IL law will ensure students learn LGBT history

Does California have anything like this law? As far as I'm aware, it's a first of its kind.

A new law in Illinois will promote a more LGBTQ-inclusive history curricula in schools across the state. The measure goes into effect in July of next year.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) signed the legislation into law on Friday. The bill, which passed the House in March and the Senate in May, would amend the school code to ensure public schools “teach about the the roles and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people” in U.S. and state history.

The measure provides for textbooks in public schools that include the “roles and contributions of all people protected under the Illinois Human Rights Act” and mandates that they be non-discriminatory toward those groups. Queer, trans, and nonbinary people are protected under state law.

Lawmakers who supported the bill say that LGBTQ-inclusive curricula will not only provide a more accurate telling of history but will work against transphobia and queerphobia and help LGBTQ students feel more welcome at school.

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CA overhauls sex education guidance for teachers

Parents feel that their rights are being taken away are the ones who should keep their kids at home and teach them at home. There are thousands of instances where parents should be involved in their child's education, but can't be bothered. For a child in kindergarten, it's not a matter of sitting down and having a full-blown sex education class, but knowing how to respond if they have a little boy wanting to wear dresses or a girl who doesn't like "girl stuff" and how to handle the responses of the rest of the children, so as to avoid bullying. The number of child suicides by LGBT kids and youth is a clear indicator that parents don't do fuck-all about bullying.

California has overhauled its sex education guidance for public school teachers, encouraging them to talk about gender identity with kindergartners and give advice to LGBT teenagers for navigating relationships and having safe sex.

LGBT advocates praised the new recommendations for giving attention to a community that is often left out of sex education policies. But some parents and conservative groups assailed the more than 700-page document as an assault on parental rights, arguing it exposes children to ideas about sexuality and gender that should be taught at home.

The guidance approved Wednesday by the California State Board of Education does not require educators to teach anything. It is designed as a guide for teachers to meet state standards on health education, such as nutrition, physical activity and combating alcohol and drug abuse.

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