LGBTQ education is making serious inroads in public schools. John Murawski writes:
The drive to include LGBTQ-related teaching material has gained tremendous momentum during the last few years but it has been percolating for decades, although not without pushback. On one level it reflects the nation’s recent embrace of gay marriage and transgender rights, which has emboldened corporations and local governments to publicly display pride flags, and straight people to express solidarity by announcing their preferred pronouns. The embrace of inclusive history mirrors a trend to revoke so-called “no promo homo” laws that forbid mentioning homosexuality in sex-ed classes. Arizona repealed its law this year and Utah did so in 2017, leaving a half-dozen states with such laws on the books. South Carolina’s statute, for example, says sex ed “may not include a discussion of alternative sexual lifestyles” and prohibits mentioning “homosexual relationships except in the context of instruction concerning sexually transmitted diseases."
The latest statewide teaching mandates start going into effect next year. Curricula and textbooks are yet to be worked out, but some school districts are adopting the policies on their own. The Maryland State Department of Education is revising its history standards for high schools to include LGBTQ-related topics. And Massachusetts recommends K-12 reading material such as “I Am Jazz” for elementary school students, and introduced an optional high school history unit last year.
[Jon Murawski, "How LGBTQ Education Is Gaining in Tax-Funded Schools, From Pre-K on Up," RealClearInvestigations, November 13]
