CA Schools Curriculum: Inclusive of Historical Accomplishments of Gay Men & Lesbians

A bill to require California public schools to teach the historical accomplishments of gay men and lesbians passed the state Legislature on Tuesday in what supporters call a first for the nation.

The bill would require California textbooks to highlight the contributions of homosexuals in history. But some say it is going too far.

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While the bill does not set specific requirements about what should be taught to students, it does say that contributions of gays and lesbians in the state and country must be included in social science instruction. So Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay elected officials in the state, and Bayard Rustin, a civil rights activist, may take a prominent place in the state’s history books.

Advocates say that teaching about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in schools would prevent bullying and shatter stereotypes that some students may harbor. They point to several students who have committed suicide after being taunted by peers for being gay. But the bill has drawn vociferous criticism from opponents who argue that when and how to talk about same-sex relationships should be left to parents.

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The 325,000-member California Teachers Association supports SB 48. “We believe that school curriculum materials should adequately portray the diversity of our society ... [and the bill] doesn’t impose an undue burden,” says spokesperson Mike Myslinski.

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Nova said:

My first reaction is mixed. I'm not sure I'm crazy about historical topics being mandated by the state.

On the other hand, I taught at a California university for a number of years and I used to assign Emily Mann's Execution of Justice, a play about the trial of Dan White, who assassinated Harvey Milk and George Mosconi. It made sense because it's an excellent work and about half my students were from the Bay Area. I don't believe I ever had a single San Francisco student who even knew there had ever been a murder of the city's mayor and a city council member. That's just wrong.

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Famous GLB People in History You're in Good Company!

"Within the typical secondary school curriculum, homosexuals do not exist. They are 'nonpersons' in the finest Stalinist sense. They have fought no battles, held no offices, explored nowhere, written no literature, built nothing, invented nothing and solved no equations. The lesson to the heterosexual student is abundantly clear: homosexuals do nothing of consequence. To the homosexual student, the message has even greater power: no one who has ever felt as you do has done anything worth mentioning." -Gerald Unks, editor, The Gay Teen, p. 5.

Alexander the Great
*Macedonian Ruler, 300 B.C.
Socrates
*Greek Philosopher, 400 B.C.
Sappho
*Greek Woman Poet, 600 B.C.
Hadrian
*Roman Emperor, 1st-2nd c.
Richard the Lionhearted
*English King, 12th c.
Saladin
*Sultan of Egypt and Syria
Desiderius Erasmus
*Dutch Monk, Philosopher
Francis Bacon
*English statesman, author
Frederick the Great
*King of Prussia
Lord Byron
*English poet, 18th c.
Walt Whitman
*U.S. poet, author, 19th c.
Oscar Wilde
*Irish author, 19th c.
<snipped>

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In 1779, Thomas Jefferson proposed a law that would mandate castration for gay men and mutilation of nose cartilage for gay women. But that's not the scary part. Here's the scary part: Jefferson was considered a liberal. At the time, the most common penalty on the books was death.

224 years later, the U.S. Supreme Court finally put an end to laws criminalizing same-sex intercourse in Lawrence v. Texas. Lawmakers at both the state and federal level continue to target lesbians and gay men with draconian legislation and hateful rhetoric. The gay rights movement is still working to change this. <snipped>

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Emma Peel said:

I'd like more information about the curriculum proposed myself - but I'm not finding it.

From what I'm reading, the pressure is coming from advocacy that teaching civil rights should include gay civil rights & examples thereof.

Also, the idea the social studies & history curriculum should not exclude examples of positive role models from LGBT history.

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California today became the first state to require that school districts include in their social studies lessons the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.


“History should be honest. This bill revises existing laws that prohibit discrimination in education and ensures that the important contributions of Americans from all backgrounds and walks of life are included in our history books,” said a statement from Gov. Jerry Brown (D), who signed the bill after supporters and opponents endured more than a week of suspense.

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Nova said:

I'm still curious as to what they are going to teach. Identifying who was "gay" before the word became common in the 20th century is very tricky. I think it will be tough to explain how Socrates and RuPaul have anything in common.

But what the hell? It's for high school students. How is it going to hurt them to talk about it?

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Nova said:

My first reaction is mixed. I'm not sure I'm crazy about historical topics being mandated by the state.

On the other hand, I taught at a California university for a number of years and I used to assign Emily Mann's Execution of Justice, a play about the trial of Dan White, who assassinated Harvey Milk and George Mosconi. It made sense because it's an excellent work and about half my students were from the Bay Area. I don't believe I ever had a single San Francisco student who even knew there had ever been a murder of the city's mayor and a city council member. That's just wrong.

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Kimberlyd125 said:

When this story first came out it said this would start in K-5.
Have they changed that?

They even discussed a children's book they were going to use.

I don't have the links handy but they are in the thread for this topic in the political pavilion.

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Kimberlyd125 said:

When this story first came out it said this would start in K-5.
Have they changed that?

They even discussed a children's book they were going to use.

I don't have the links handy but they are in the thread for this topic in the political pavilion.

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Quiche said:

Imo, this just undoes previous mandates. I think we should be able to discuss people truthfully in educational settings, not to is absurd. :waitasec:

I think this is a great thing, but I've heard moans and groans about the cost of updating textbooks during this economic downturn. So, unfortunately, it may be a burden to get going. jmo

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Emma Peel said:

IIRC, "they" did not discuss a children's book they were going to use.

The curriculum is yet to be determined.

One school district, (Alameda) prior to the bill being passed, had adopted a tolerance curriculum using the book Tango, which - in Alameda has since been replaced by another book.

I finally found the curriculum website link for Alameda School district.

This isn't necessarily the curriculum for all districts in CA. Alameda, however, adapted the curriculum 2 years prior to the bill being signed into law.

http://www.alamedacare.org/ausd-lesson--9.html

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Emma Peel said:

http://www.turnto23.com/news/28481175/detail.html



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/16/us/16schools.html



http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Educat...-nation-in-teaching-of-gay-history-in-schools

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TrackerSam said:

Following the logic that claims bulling would be reduced by teaching gay history, perhaps we should begin with historical figures who were obese, or just overweight, the uncoordinated, nerds, and those who were ugly. It's a false claim IMO.


"What the bill calls for is for the contributions of LGBT people to be included," Leno said, adding, "We wrote it broadly for a reason. We would be subject to more criticism than we've already been getting if we were more dictatorial."

Leno said the mandates apply broadly, though, telling reporters it would affect kindergarten through high school curriculum, "and, of course, in an age-appropriate way."



Kindergarten? Really?

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