By a vote of 49-25, the California Assembly joined the Senate in saying no to LGBT exclusion in public social science curricula. Today, the FAIR (Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful) Education Act passed the Assembly and heads to Governor Jerry Brown’s desk. The bill requires public social science instruction to include the history of the LGBT movement and the accomplishments of LGBT historical figures in the broader context of American history. California law already mandates that other minority groups be included in social science instruction, and now the LGBT community (pending Brown’s signature) will join that list. The bill also adds sexual orientation and gender identity to existing non-discrimination laws that prohibit discrimination in school activities and instruction.
Pretty big freakin’ deal. It’s been a long time coming, but it’s a leap into what we can hope will be the future of social science instruction.
Equality California’s Roland Palencia sums up today’s accomplishment quite well:
The struggle of the multicultural and multiethnic LGBT community in California is one of the greatest stories yet to be told. The FAIR Education Act will ensure that public schools acknowledge the heroism of individuals and communities who in spite of countless barriers continuously overcome adversity. For decades, LGBT leaders have worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life for all Californians. LGBT leaders were heavily involved in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, the farm workers’ movement, the women’s movement, and have built health and human services institutions that now serve millions of Californians. It is time for history to accurately depict our community’s contributions.
And from the Gay-Straight Alliance Network’s Carolyn Laub:
This is a victory not only for the LGBT youth in California who have been fighting to be heard in Sacramento and represented in their history classes, but also for all California youth who deserve to learn a fair and accurate account of California and US history. By passing the FAIR Education Act, the Assembly has taken an unprecedented step to reduce bullying, increase safety for all students, and teach students to respect each other's differences.
State Senator Mark Leno, the one who introduced the FAIR Education Act in the Senate, hits the nail on the head on the effects of excluding LGBT Americans from social science curricula:
We are selectively censoring history when we exclude LGBT Americans, or any other group of people, from our textbooks and instructional materials. We can’t tell our youth that it’s OK to be yourself and expect them to treat their peers with dignity and respect when we deliberately deny them accurate information about the historical contributions of Americans who happened to be LGBT.
Leno is absolutely right. As I said in my last diary on this topic, I wasn’t exposed to any meaningful sort of LGBT history until college. Until I approached the topic on my own (out of both curiosity and an urge to understand the history of my community), my knowledge basically came from the movie Milk – a great film, no doubt, but no substitute for actually studying LGBT history.
Nothing says “It Gets Better” like showing LGBT youth where they came from and what their community has accomplished. One can’t have hope for the future if they don’t know their past.
The haters will attack today's victory as "indoctrination" and "recruitment" in public schools. Too bad for them, their lies have not prevented California from moving forward on this important, often overlooked issue. They lost, yet again. They will continue to lose.
Bravo, California. Here’s hoping many more states follow.