The Los Angeles Times reports that, “Students in California will soon learn more about LGBT people and their history after state education officials voted to include contributions from the LGBT community in history and social science curriculum.
The California State Board of Education on Thursday voted unanimously to approve a new History-Social Science Framework that includes “a study of the role of contributions” of minority groups, including “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans.”
The Times continues, “LGBT content will be taught in some elementary, middle and high school grades. In fourth grade, for example, students would learn about “the emergence of the nation’s first gay rights organizations in the 1950s,” the framework states, as well as struggles in California from the 1970s to the present day to affirm the right of gay people to teach and to get married.”
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said the new, more inclusive instruction is a win for students. “This document will improve the teaching and learning of history and social science,” he said in a statement. “It will give our students access to the latest historical research and help them learn about the diversity of our state and the contributions of people and groups who may not have received the appropriate recognition in the past.”
Equality California, an LGBT advocacy group, issued a statement praising the move, saying the new framework more accurately represents figures important to the LGBT movement.
The new guidelines, the group added, now better captures “essential moments in the struggle for equality, and the evolution of communities and identities.” Equality California said a more inclusive curriculum will make LGBT students more comfortable in school.
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