California Leads the Way Teaching LGBT History to Schoolchildren

As goes California, so goes the nation—at least, that’s what LGBT advocates in the Golden State are hoping when it comes to a set of new, inclusive K-8 history textbooks. As first reported by The Advocate, the California State Board of Education approved 10 textbooks last week for use in K-8 classrooms that cover the contributions of LGBT people and people with disabilities to American history. 

The road to this point has been six years long: In 2011, the California state legislature passed Sen. Mark Leno’s Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act, which required classroom instruction in the state to include information about the contributions of a wide range of Americans, including Native Americans, LGBT people, and people with disabilities. 

Last July, as the Los Angeles Times reported, the State Board of Education unanimously approved a framework to begin implementing these provisions in history and social science curricula. And now, those LGBT-inclusive history textbooks have become a reality.

California isn’t just the first state to do something like this; it’s the only one. In fact, some states still expressly prohibit any positive discussion of LGBT issues under “no promo homo” laws….