California to teach LGBT principles, LGBT history to second graders

Suzette Gutierrez Cachila Friday, July 22, 2016

Students, as young as those who are in the second grade in California public schools, will be taught about LGBT history and the contributions of LGBT people through a revised curriculum.

Early this month, the California State Board of Education voted unanimously to revise the Historyâ€“Social Science Framework for elementary, middle school and high school students to cover topics on LGBT.

A rainbow is seen in the sky behind LGBT pride flags and the U.S. flag in West Hollywood, California, United States, June 26, 2015. | Reuters/Lucy Nicholson

Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, said the move is a "big win" for students. He added that the new framework will "improve the teaching and learning of history and social science," according to a press release.

The new framework is able to show "essential moments in the struggle for equality, and the evolution of communities and identities," according to LGBT advocate Equality California, which praised the board's decision, Los Angeles Times reported.

Under the revised guidelines, fourth graders will learn about how the first gay rights organizations in the U.S. sprang up in the 1950s, as well as prominent LGBT figures in history. They will also be taught about the fight for LGBT rights, particularly in the field of education and in marriage.

Second graders will learn about family structures, including families led by LGBT couples.

High school students will be taught about the influence of homosexual politicians, homosexuals in the military and the history of sex reassignment surgery in the country.

The revised framework will also incorporate relevant Supreme Court rulings that affect the LGBT community.

"It allows all students to think critically and expansively about how that past relates to the present and future roles that they can play in an inclusive and respectful society," Don Romesburg, framework director for the Committee on LGBT History, said, according to Los Angeles Times.

Aside from topics covering LGBT people, the revised framework includes other controversial topics, such as the American Genocide, the Bataan Death March and the Battle of Manila, discrimination against Sikh Americans and comfort women during World War II.