Teaching LGBT History In Schools

By Blaize Stewart

March 19, 2020

Share

Donate

Photo credit: Pexels/cottonbro

As a bi man growing up in Central Illinois, my exposure to LGBT people, culture, and history was essentially nonexistent. To my knowledge, there were no queer role models for me to look up to, no movements for me to draw inspiration from, and no resources available to help me appreciate the contributions that the LGBT community has made to society. That is why I was thrilled to see the Inclusive Curriculum Law signed by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker in 2019. This law mandates that by the time students finish eighth grade, public schools must teach them about contributions to US history made by LGBT people. Even though this happened well beyond my middle school tenure, it gave me hope that future generations will have easier access to information about the diverse and vibrant pioneers who fought tooth and nail to get our community, and the rest of society, to where we are today.

Bigstock/Yastremska

Of course, not everyone shares my enthusiasm for this inclusive step forward. Opponents of this law whined that it violated their religious beliefs or that it was not age-appropriate for children to learn about LGBT individuals. However, according to Erin Tighe, a teacher at Lincoln Elementary School in my hometown of Jacksonville, IL, showcasing diversity in history and other aspects of the curriculum is exactly what is needed. It ensures that all students feel represented, which in turn makes it easier for them to connect to and retain the material.

For a student, or specific demographic of students, to be successful and truly learn — not just regurgitate information — they have to be able to identify with the curriculum and feel like their voice is heard.... We’ve been doing a huge disservice to children for decades by not paying more attention to this, especially our black students, LGBT students, students from non-traditional families, and our students with exceptionalities (the term that should be used in place of disabilities).
Bigstock/Iofoto

Pretending that the history of minority communities is irrelevant and did not contribute to society is setting us all up for failure. Acting as if queer people do not exist will not make them go away. Ignoring the contributions of those who sacrificed their time, money, and, in some instances, lives, does not make their impact any less valuable; it just makes you ignorant and complicit when the mistakes of the past are repeated.

The fact of the matter is, history is not comfortable; it is filled with countless people committing horrendous acts across the globe. Painting over it with the broad brush of censorship does nothing for the education and advancement of our society; it just makes people blind to what it has taken for others to make lasting, impactful change. Rather than acting like these things never happened, we need to show future generations what people are capable of, how to prevent those who commit these horrible acts from coming into power and how they can make positive changes for their time.

Learning about queer history is not going to “turn” any child. However, if your child is born LGBT, imagine what it would mean to them to see others like them blazing a trail forward for equality? Imagine how inspiring it would be for them to know that there are queer people across history who have made life better for countless people around the globe.

Treating queer or minority history as taboo and “unteachable” in public schools does one thing: it teaches a new generation of children that there is something wrong with being either of those things. If the only history you’re being taught is focused on one specific group of people, it’s implying that there is only one group of people who can make a difference in this world. As any serious historian will tell you, that’s simply not the case.

Comments

Facebook Comments