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California Passes LGBT Inclusive History Bill

6 July 2011
by Bridgette P. LaVictoire

The Fair, accurate, Inclusive and Respectful Education Act or FAIR Act, authored by Senator Mark Leno, recently passed the California Assembly by a 49-25 vote. The bill is aimed at ensuring inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals in the educational curriculum in a fair and accurate manner. This is done by adding LGBT people to the existing list of under-represented cultural and ethnic groups already included in the state’s curriculum.

In all honesty, it would be nice if we just, well, taught history to begin with. History is one of the most maligned and forgotten parts of just about every state’s curriculum. Instead, emphasis is placed upon math and science because those are considered important even though many of the countries with strong educational systems teach language skills and history as being integral to the learning process even if a person is going to go into a field heavy on math and science.

However, according to Senator Leno “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.”

This is fine, except for one slight problem. It is not easy to know who exactly was lesbian or gay in the past. While we know that some individuals such as Oscar Wilde and Socrates were more apt to prefer the social and sexual company of men, both were married. It is believed that President James Buchanan was gay, but the letters that would have confirmed that were destroyed by his family upon his death.

It is still necessary for people to learn about what it means to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transsexual. People who learn about other groups, including LGBT Americans, tend to understand what life is like for those who are of that minority group. The bill also includes sexual orientation into the state’s anti-discrimination laws with regards to schools.

Carolyn Laub, the Executive Director of Gay-Straight Alliance Network, stated “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.”

Equality California Executive Director Roland Palencia stated “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.”

The bill now goes to Governor Brown for his signature.