Teaching LGBT history

[TexasTowelie]

By David Blanchette

The teaching of history has been too straight. A new Illinois law says it's time to tell the whole story


Illinois' public school students may soon learn about Jane Addams in a new light.

"Illinoisan Jane Addams, the mother of social work, founder of the Hull House, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, was in a committed 40-year relationship with her partner, Mary Rozet Smith," read a statement from Equality Illinois during the debate over House Bill 246. "The nation's first gay rights organization, the Society for Human Rights, was formed in 1924 in Chicago. The organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, was a gay man. And Sally Ride, the first U.S. woman in space, was a lesbian."

Gov. J. B. Pritzker signed House Bill 246 into law as Public Act 101-0227 on Aug. 9, making Illinois the fourth state to mandate teaching lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) history. The law requires that history classes in public schools "include a study of the roles and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the history of this country and this state."

The law adds LGBT to other group histories that must be taught in Illinois schools, including African-Americans, women, the labor movement and persons with disabilities. It also requires textbooks purchased with certain state grant funds to include the roles and contributions of all people protected under the Illinois Human Rights Act. Private schools are not affected by the new law.

The LGBT history law takes effect July 1, 2020, so local school districts will have to work it into their curricula starting next school year. Districts can decide how to implement the law, but many are trying to figure out how they are going to do that.

Read more: https://www.illinoistimes.com/springfield/teaching-lgbt-history/Content?oid=11600846