In second grade, California students will learn about families with two moms or two dads. Two years later, while studying how immigrants have shaped the Golden State, they will hear how New York native Harvey Milk became a pioneering gay politician in San Francisco.
California’s State Board of Education has unanimously approved a new classroom instruction framework to teach students about LGBT people and events in history.
This comes several years after the passage of the FAIR Education Act in California, which mandated LGBT-inclusive curriculum in public schools. That same legislation also required curriculum that taught about people with disabilities, and banned any material that deliberately puts down LGBT people or any particular religions.
The approved framework weaves references to gay Americans and events throughout the history and social science curriculum, starting in second grade through discussions about diverse families and again in fourth grade with lessons on California’s place in the gay rights movement.
The guidelines also touch on the topics in fifth and eighth grade — looking at gender roles in the 18th and 19th centuries and examples of individuals who flouted them — and throughout high school.
A capstone of sorts would come in U.S. government courses, where seniors would learn about the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide and recent court cases involving bathroom access for transgender students.
I am 10000% here for this.
