Increasingly, policy makers, educators, and school systems are embracing LGBTQ+ individuals and issues in the classroom. This fall, California’s K-12 classrooms began using LGBTQ-inclusive textbooks, and, for the last three years, a San Francisco high school has offered an LGBTQ Studies course, likely the first in the country and a pilot for others in the district. Though far from typical, these efforts — and the LGBTQ Studies course in particular — present an opportunity to see how inclusive LGBTQ+ curriculum is playing out in schools, offering guidance on how best to encourage understanding and acceptance of gender and sexuality among students.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BanksJ.A. (2010). Approaches to multicultural education reform. In BanksJ.A.McGee BanksC.A. (Eds.), Multicultural education: Issues and perspectives (7th ed., pp. 233–258). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
2.
BirdJ.D.KuhnsL.GarofaloR. (2012). The impact of role models on health outcomes for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 50 (4), 353–357.
3.
CoghlanJ.RowleyM.TrussoA. (2016). Western Association of Schools and Colleges Self-Study: Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts. Alameda, CA: Western Association of Schools and Colleges.
4.
CroccoM.S. (2001). The missing discourse about gender and sexuality in the social studies. Theory into Practice, 40 (1), 65–71.
5.
HarringtonT. (2017, 116). California state board asked to reject textbooks that fall short on LGBT contributions. EdSource.
6.
The Harris Poll. 2018. Accelerating acceptance 2018: A survey of American acceptance and attitudes toward LGBTQ Americans. New York, NY: GLAAD.
7.
HeflingK. (2017, 1011) California’s search for LGBT-friendly textbooks.Politico.
8.
KosciwJ.G.GreytakE.A.PalmerN.A.BoesenM.J. (2014). The 2013 National School Climate Survey: The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth in our nation’s schools. New York, NY: GLSEN.
9.
LoutzenheiserL.W.MacIntoshL.B. (2004). Citizenships, sexualities, and education. Theory into Practice, 43 (2), 151–158.
10.
McGarryR. (2013). Build a curriculum that includes everyone. Phi Delta Kappan, 94 (5), 27–31.
11.
MoorheadL. (2018). LGBTQ/Ethnic studies and the next class: Multiple-perspective taking and opinion change at one public high school. Manuscript in preparation.
12.
Pew Research Center. (2016). Where the public stands on religious liberty vs. discrimination. Washington, DC: Author.
13.
VecellioS. (2012). Enacting FAIR education: Approaches to integrating LGBT content in the K–12 Curriculum. Multicultural Perspectives, 14 (3), 169–174.
