LGBT groups protest potential California school textbooks
SACRAMENTO — Gay rights groups told a California state commission Wednesday that they object to several of the textbooks that could be recommended for use in schools, saying the books don’t include enough information about the contributions of LGBT Americans.
The state Department of Education is preparing to update textbook recommendations for the first time since California became the first state to require teaching about the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
A coalition of LGBT rights groups said the books should not merely include a token reference to San Francisco civil rights icon Harvey Milk but integrate the contributions of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people throughout history. They also said the books should point out when historical or cultural figures had same-sex partners, like astronaut Sally Ride, Jane Addams, who is considered the mother of social work, entertainer Ellen DeGeneres or tennis champion Billie Jean King.
“It’s not something to appease a particular part of the population but to truly include inclusive history throughout grades K-8,” said Renata Moreira, executive director of Our Family Coalition, an LGBT advocacy group in the San Francisco Bay area.
Better representing diverse Americans in school lessons reduces discrimination, improves students’ self-esteem and makes them less likely to drop out, Moreira told The Associated Press.
A state commission is weighing which of 12 history and social science textbooks to recommend for pupils in kindergarten through eighth grade.
The coalition wants two of the books to be rejected and a third be turned back unless the publisher agrees to make substantial changes. Seven others were recommended for approval with minor changes while two were deemed adequate in their current form.
To receive the state’s recommendation, the books are supposed to comply with a framework that requires teaching about LGBT people and events and to portray diverse Americans.