Curriculum

Watch this video to understand why the Fair Education Act is so important.

The FAIR Education Act, SB 48 went into effect in 2012. It amends the California Education Code to include the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful reference to contributions by members of the LGBTQ community in history and social studies curriculum. Similar laws are now in place in Colorado, New Jersey, and Illinois.

As a result of the success of the book, Game Changers - Lesbians You Should Know About, educators requested that we help them create an LGBTQ+ history lesson plan, using our expertise in Queer history, the book, and our short films as resources. The completed lesson plan is currently being piloted in Marin County High Schools. Please contact us with any inquiries about our lesson plan. We would love to share it with your school!

The Research

Providing instruction about LGBTQ history and social studies can help with bullying and acceptance in schools.

 “Student victimization and unsafe school climates have real consequences on both the personal health and academic outcomes of LGBTQ youth… The good news is that through thoughtful development and implementation of policies and procedures, districts, schools, and educators can provide LGBTQ students with the inclusive and supportive environments they need to thrive in school and beyond.” - 2021 GLSEN policy recommendations to support LGBTQ students.

An LGBTQ-Inclusive Curriculum benefits all students by:

  • Exposing them to more inclusive and accurate accounts of history

  • Helping them have better understandings of LGBTQ people and their historic contributions

  • Encouraging them to question stereotypes about LGBTQ people

  • Promoting acceptance

 

“Ethnic Studies elective courses investigate the relationship between race, gender, sexuality, social class, and economic and political power. They can investigate the legacies of social movements and historic struggles against injustice and study how different social movements for people of color, women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities have mutually informed each other.”

From Teaching California