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Understanding the meanings of these terms and their proper usage helps us take the first step toward creating a more inclusive world by addressing people correctly.

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Queer English: 20 LGBTQIA+ Terms Everyone Should Know

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Language is power, in ways more literal than most people think. When we speak, we exercise the power of language to transform reality. - Junot Diaz, Author We’ve all heard the saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword,” - a timeless adage that holds more truth today than ever before. Language is power, and the words we use shape our beliefs, prejudices, expectations, and, ultimately, our behavior. Language has the power to dictate and transform our realities - both individually and as a soc

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"explains how to use language respectfully and inclusively when working with and referring to LGBTIQ people. By using inclusive language, we demonstrate respect in both our workplaces and in developing and delivering policies, programs and services for all Victorians."

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This explains why "Inclusive language is more than just avoiding the use of a few antiquated or offensive terms and phrases. It is about embracing communication that acknowledges the power differentials and dynamics of our society and their deleterious effects. And finally, it is about creating cultures where people can feel free to be their full authentic selves.

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"Language is power, in ways more literal than most people think. When we speak, we exercise the power of language to transform reality. Why don't more of us realize the connection between language and power?" - Julia Penelope (American linguist, author, and philosopher)
If the last few years have taught us one thing, it is that all our fates are linked. From the climate crisis, to global pandemics, wars, and racism - it is evident that collective problems require collective solutions. Communicating in a way that builds bridges and breaks barriers resonates with more audiences and is key to laying the groundwork for collective solutions. Simply put, words matter. Language is powerful. It can enhance our empathy, clarity, and understanding of each other as complex individuals with intersectional and varied identities and experiences. However, when language ignores issues of power and equity that shape people's lives, it only foments further exclusion of marginalized people. It is more important than ever to use language that creates inclusive and equitable cultures.

Inclusive language is more than just avoiding the use of a few antiquated or offensive terms and phrases. It is about embracing communication that acknowledges the power differentials and dynamics of our society and their deleterious effects. It is about showing appreciation for the diversity everyone brings to the table. And finally, it is about creating cultures where people can feel free to be their full authentic selves.

This type of communication is needed more than ever to adapt to a rapidly diversifying nation and world. In the United States, Generation Z is on track to become the most diverse generation in history. Nearly half (48%) identify as people of color and over one in five (20.8%) identify as LGBTQ+. On a global scale, the world's population is projected to reach 8 billion by November 2022 , each with their own unique identities that are influenced by factors such as age, disability, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, nationality, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status.

In December 2021, APA released the first edition of its Inclusive Language Guidelines to raise awareness, guide learning, and support the use of culturally sensitive terms and phrases that center the voices and perspectives of those who are often marginalized or stereotyped. It includes guidance for people working to foster equity, diversity, and inclusion in the settings in which they learn, live, and work.

The guidelines are grounded in psychological science and designed to be iterative given the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of language. They provide direction not only for research articles and formal writing but also for verbal communication, due to the significance of building relationships in day-to-day exchanges.

Within the guidelines, you will find:

definitions related to issues of power and equity that cut across various social identities

explanations of the differences between person-first and identity-first language with numerous examples

identity-related terms that cover age; disability status; race, ethnicity, and culture; sexual orientation and gender diversity; and socioeconomic status

guidance for how to avoid cultural appropriation, pejorative language, and casually offensive language in conversation.

Inclusive communication can be awkward and uncomfortable for even the most well-intentioned person. Many people feel inadequately prepared or lack confidence in their abilities. Others fear they may cause unintended offense or, even worse, appear performative in their efforts. These are all natural and understandable emotions to have.
Here are three tips to use as you build your inclusive communication skills.

Focus on people over labels

Putting people into boxes is reductive, dehumanizing, and harmful. Listen carefully to the ways in which different groups identify themselves and reflect those choices when in communication with them. For example, various groups differ on whether they prefer person-first or identity-first language. They all have their own unique and valid reasons that reflect their experiences and it is best to do your research rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach.

Show cultural humility

Embrace that you are a learner, not an expert, when it comes to understanding the experiences of other people, their cultures, and their experiences - especially if they are from a marginalized group. This requires challenging some of your own biases, continual self-reflection, and knowing that you may mistakes but should remain open to continual learning and growth.

When you make a mistake, think impact over intention

Everyone makes mistakes - we are human. When you learn you have caused someone harm with your words, decenter yourself and focus not on what your intentions were, but on the impact on that person or group. Listen carefully to understand how it affected them, give a genuine apology, and commit to doing better.

References

American Psychological Association. (2021). Inclusive language guidelines. https://www.apa.org/about/apa/equitydiversity-inclusion/language-guidelines.pdf

Fry, R., & Parker, K. (2018, November 15). Early benchmarks show 'post-millennials' on track to be most diverse, best-educated generation yet. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2018/11/15/early-benchmarks-show-post-millennials-on-track-to-be-most-diverse-best-educated-generation-yet/

Jones, J. M. (2022, February 17). LGBT identification in U.S. ticks up to 7.1%. Gallup https://news.gallup.com/poll/389792/lgbt-identification-ticks-up.aspx

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2022). World Population Prospects 2022: Summary of Results. UN DESA/POP/2022/TR/NO. 3. https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/wpp2022_summary_of_results.pdf

About the author

Efua Andoh is a public engagement manager on the APA Communications team. She has a bachelor's degree in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania and a certificate in strategic communications from George Washington University. Prior to her current role, Efua managed communications and outreach for APA's Public Interest directorate. More recently, Efua has been involved in much of APA's equity, diversity, and inclusion-related communications including the development and rollout of the APA's Inclusive Language Guidelines and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Framework. She also manages a number of strategic communications partnerships between APA and other organizations.

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Consider these important tips as you build your inclusive communication skills.

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This article talks about how having inclusive language can directly impact someone personally, at work, or how we see things in our lives.

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Key points

Language shapes how we see the world, and we use it to make sense of our reality.

Language can perpetuate stereotypes about those who have already been largely marginalized.

Inclusive language has the potential to increase individual and team objectivity.

Language shapes how we see the world. We use it to make sense of our reality. We use it to label people and things around us. Label something beautiful, and you acknowledge its uniqueness, elevate its value, and bestow upon it influence-in this way, you render it special. Label a person beautiful, and you confer upon them congruent benefits. On the contrary, label something ugly, and you overlook its uniqueness, deny its value, nullify its influence, and in this way, render it unworthy, redundant, disposable. Labeling a person ugly, again, has the same effect.

We know that words matter. As a theme of growing interest in international business, we explored in a Harvard Business Review article how linguistic patterns can fortify or deconstruct socially prescribed biases that have the potential to impede or further the inclusion agenda.

As a key ingredient in creating more equitable worlds of work, inclusive language confers a number of benefits to employees and employers alike:

Embracing inclusive language provides the opportunity for each of us to develop into better communicators while caring for those with whom we communicate (Seiter, 2018).

Language has a unique ability to build bridges; it can help all feel less limited by their sociodemographic characteristics and respective philosophies.

Language can serve as an equalizer among individuals, resulting in a more equitable distribution of work, which is a game-changer for streamlining costs and social mobility.

Inclusive language has the potential to increase individual and team objectivity, leading to stronger decision-making and more goal-oriented perceptions.

Language can be personally valuable in the present climate in which one wants to avoid lawsuits, career stagnation, or even dismissal.

Modern-day lexicons are littered with gender-biased terms. We tend to favour words that depict male involvement and symbolise male dominance over gender-neutral language. We call grown women "girls" and boys "young men" - and consider our preference toward words like "mankind" over "humankind" or "Chairman" over "Chair". Such labels reinforce invalid dogmas on the roles that men and women should occupy in society - and positions that they can successfully realise. This priming starts in infancy and becomes embedded in our psyche throughout the life course.

In fact, one recent study revealed a connection between gendered language and socially constructed gender roles, suggesting that these subtle, yet powerfully conveyed, narratives are linked to specific rhetoric strategies and underpinned by potentially harmful ideologies (Hartmann, 2020). It's the reason why professional women are more likely to be relegated to stereotypically feminine tasks in the workplace, such as note-taking, event organisation, and coffee runs, while men in the same orbit are instinctively selected for delegation, supervision, and client-facing tasks.

Equally, businesses have the power to influence society - in both positive and negative ways - through the language they use in product development. Product branding ultimately funnels down to customers through its many touch points; from distribution and marketing to procurement, stakeholders at each stage are influenced by the socially responsible (or irresponsible) choice of language used. In this way it can shape the social consciousness of society. Consider 1992 Teen Talk Barbie doll which said, "Math class is tough!", an early-life deterrent that could prime young girls away from STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) classes.

Language can connect people to the values of an organisation such that it increases loyalty. In contrast, the potential costs of bad messaging are diverse and many - from advertising spots being pulled, a reduced rate of product success, lawsuits, diminished competitive advantage, and a damaged reputation. But beyond that, there is the most basic responsibility to do no harm. This includes eliminating language biases that saturate through organisations. Compliance is not enough. It is about developing a culture of inclusivity.

Inclusive language pays homage to the concept of tolerance and reflects a legitimate respect for others. However, it appears we have regressed a position centrally focused on our right to language autonomy. Given that we do not exist in a vacuum, there is a need to balance free speech against harmful speech. Too often we forget that respect is a basic premise of positive social interaction that requires reciprocity. A fundamental problem is that there is much focus on what one cannot say, rather than all that one can say through the big wide world of linguistics.

The reality is that what we think typically underlies what we say, particularly in moments of thoughtless intention. Leaders with an agenda that seeks to promote a truly diverse and inclusive space can easily sabotage those efforts by words alone. Corporations are encouraged to avoid analyses of opportunity costs in the aftermath of poor language choices that damage brand equity. By acknowledging the ability of language to shape and reflect reality, diversity, equality, and inclusivity campaigns can become more powerful vehicles for social change and justice (Hamilton et al., 2022; Klitmøller, 2015; Marques, 2009).

The reality is that what we think typically underlies what we say, particularly in moments of thoughtless intention. Leaders with an agenda that seeks to promote a truly diverse and inclusive space can easily sabotage those efforts by words alone. Corporations are encouraged to avoid analyses of opportunity costs in the aftermath of poor language choices that damage brand equity. By acknowledging the ability of language to shape and reflect reality, diversity, equality, and inclusivity, campaigns can become more powerful vehicles for social change and justice (Hamilton et al., 2022; Klitmøller, 2015; Marques, 2009).

This is, in part, an adaptation of Hamilton and colleagues' 2022 peer-reviewed article "How to Make Your Organization's Language More Inclusive," published in the Harvard Business Review.

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Words Matter: How Language Influences Inclusion

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Unpacking how language shapes and reinforces social stereotypes.

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This article talks about how language, specifically what you say directly to someone can change others perspectives and how they treat others.

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Why inclusive language is so important! | Personal Politics | Episode 04

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This site gives you access to video's and resources for you to learn about what/how you can become a advocate, as well as how you can go about it to make a impact.

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The Trevor Project advocates for policies that help prevent suicide among LGBTQ+ youth. This includes advancing policy reforms at the federal, state, and local level to address some of the risk factors that put this group of people at higher risk.

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Through legislation, litigation, and public education, The Trevor Project is the leading advocate for LGBTQ youth mental health in preventative and intervention efforts at the federal, state, and local level to address factors that place LGBTQ youth at significantly higher risk of suicide.

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Through legislation, litigation, and public education, The Trevor Project is the leading advocate for LGBTQ youth mental health in preventative and intervention efforts at the federal, state, and local level to address factors that place LGBTQ youth at significantly higher risk of suicide.

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This resource talks about how they advocate for human rights(LGBTQ included) not just in the U.S. but over the world.

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LGBTIQ+ Rights - The Advocates for Human Rights

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We work across programs to uphold the rights of LGBTIQ+ people and others who are experiencing violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression or sex characteristics. The Advocates helps LGBTIQ+ migrants fleeing persecution find safety in the U.S. We partner with LGBTIQ+ human rights defenders to promote equality in their countries. We empower our LGBTIQ+ clients to share their lived experiences by participating in advocacy at the United Nations.

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this video talks about the evolution of LGBTQ advocacy and the challenges the community faces, particularly transgender individuals.

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LGBTQ Advocacy and Transgender Rights | One to One

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This resource talks about how they and you can take action to enact change for the LGBTQ+AI community.

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The National LGBTQ Task Force is dedicated to achieving freedom and justice for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer people, and their families through proactive, targeted, change-inducing initiatives.

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This resource talks about how you can be a ally and support someone you know

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As well as tagging each other in memes and going out for food, being a good friend also sometimes means being an ally - and that's a whole different story.

An ally is someone who stands up for, supports and encourages the people around them. It's a term that gets used a lot in the LGBTQIA+ community. In this case it refers to someone who is heterosexual and/or cisgender, but who tries to make the world a better place for people who identify as LGBTQIA+.
View a text version of the infographic.
Being an ally means:

supporting equal rights for everyone - regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender or religion

doing what you can to call out discrimination and to fight for equality

trying to make the world a better place for anyone who identifies as LGBTQIA+.

So, how can you be a good ally? Here's how to get started!

Learn about issues that are important to the LGBTQIA+ community

Talk to people who identify as LGBTQIA+, read books and other publications, listen to podcasts, and visit businesses or websites run by people from the community. Immerse yourself in their world as much as you can, and get a sense of what it's like to live in their shoes.

It's important to also know the key differences between gender, sex and sexuality when understanding the LGBTQIA+ experience. This article explains these key differences in an easy to understand way.

Being an ally means being a visible supporter

This means going to rallies and events, calling out homophobia, transphobia or queerphobia wherever you see it, and supporting businesses, charities or other initiatives owned or operated by LGBTQIA+ people.

An ally supports the important people in their life

Whether it's friends, family, classmates or workmates, keep an eye on the people you know who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Part of being an ally means being there for people when they need you. Offer your shoulder to cry on, give them space to vent or rage, or spend time with them doing something they enjoy, to keep their spirits up.

Allies should be mindful not to take up space

If people ask you questions about the community or for your opinion on an issue, recommend LGBTQIA+ books, magazines, podcasts or social media accounts they can follow. This allows everyone to hear the people in the community speak for themselves.

Support those around you in being an ally too

The great thing about being an ally for one group of people is that it can open your eyes to be an ally for everyone. People don't fit into just one box. 'Intersectionality' is a term used to describe all the different identities or social categorisations a person has. If someone who identifies as LGBTQIA+ is also a person of colour or also lives with a disability, they might be discriminated against because of each of these identities. So, when you stand up for one marginalised group, you're standing up for them all.

To be an effective ally, we have to be intersectional - which means we can't just fight for the rights of LGBTQIA+ people. We have to be fighting for equality for everyone, regardless of their race, gender identity, disability or sexual preference.

You now know more about how to be an ally, and the steps you can take to become one. Try choosing one action to start with: go to a rally or an event, educate yourself on issues that are important to the community, or check-in with your LGBTQIA+ mates after a particularly bad news day.

Remember: you really can make a difference to other people.

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What is an LGBTQIA+ ally, and how can I be a good one?

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Maybe someone you know has just come out, or you've seen something on TV...here's your starter pack to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community.

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The resource gives few tips on what you should and should not do as an ally of the LGBTQ+AI personally and professionally

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4 Ways to Be a Good LGBTQ+ Ally (Both Personally & Professionally) - Reputation

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Every one of your LGBTQ+ employees should feel safe and welcome in the workplace. Here are some tips on how you can be a good ally to the community.

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Explains how someone can support and be an ally to someone they know who's apart of the LGBTQ+AI community.

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This video explains how you can support someone who is coming out as well as how to be someone who is supportive of a LGBTQ+AI.

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gives you ways on how you can be an ally/support someone

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Expanding Your Allyship

Many folks are interested in learning more about how to practice allyship. In particular, our campus community has expressed interest in learning more about allyship to trans, intersex and asexual communities.

We recommend that those who are interested in building their LGBTQIA+ allyship skills attend our Educational Workshops, or review our comprehensive LGBTQIA+ glossary.

Below we have highlighted some suggestions for allyship, as well as some general tips.

Trans Allyship

1. If your organization is holding an event, designate a gender-neutral bathroom in the building.

2. Recognize that trans women deserve access to "women-only" spaces/programs/shelters/etc.

3. Above all respect and support trans people in their lives and choices.

Intersex Allyship
via Organisation Intersex International

When speaking to intersex individuals:

1. Remember that being intersex may or may not be a part of their identity.

2. Remember it is not their duty to discuss intersex at any time, or that they will be comfortable discussing all aspects: follow their lead.

3. Phrase questions to understand intersex broadly, not in ways that are too personal and thus invasive.

4. Ensure questions do not serve to stigmatize or fetishize intersex individuals.

5. If intersex individuals are not comfortable discussing certain topics:

1. They may wish to have this conversation at another time.

2. They may wish to have this conversation, but not publicly.

3. They may wish to have a broad/general conversation, rather than a personal one.

4. They may not wish to have this conversation, it may be too personal or triggering.

Asexual Allyship

General Allyship

Adapted from CSU Long Beach's "Being an Ally."

1. Believe that issues related to oppression are everyone's concern, not just the concern of those who are the targets of oppression.

2. Understand that people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, or asexual are experts on their own experience, and that you have much to learn from them.

3. Take responsibility for your own education on issues related to gender identity and sexual orientation. Take the initiative to become as knowledgeable as you can on issues of concern to people who are LGBTQIA.

4. Making mistakes is part of the learning process of practicing allyship. Acknowledge and apologize for mistakes; learn from them, but do not retreat.

5. Avoid trying to convince people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and intersex that you are on their side; just be there.

6. Remember that ally is a verb - actions are more powerful than words.

7. Create opportunities for allies to join together in coalition to reduce oppression of LGBTQIA people.

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Expanding Your Allyship Many folks are interested in learning more about how to practice allyship. In particular, our campus community has expressed interest in learning more about allyship to trans, intersex and asexual communities.

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explains that LGBTQ+AI community has been around for much longer than we thought was, and explains that it was accepted before setelers came.

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Bonnie J. Morris, PhD George Washington University Washington, D.C.

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A brief history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender social movements

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Most historians agree that there is evidence of homosexual activity and same-sex love, whether such relationships were accepted or persecuted, in every documented culture.

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very brief timeline of when LGBTQ+ language became "common terms" even though they have been around for much longer.

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LGBTQ Rights Timeline in American History » Teaching LGBTQ History

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LGBTQ Rights Timeline in American History This timeline is organized in units that are typically taught in middle school and high school U.S. History classrooms and is consistent with the people and events listed in the new California History-Social Science Framework (2016). Our Family Coalition wil…

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talks about the LGBTQ+ movement in the 1800's, and how people advocated for change.

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This explains why talking about LGBTQ+AI topics in elementary school is important and gives resources on how you can accomplish this as a teacher/admin

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Why Begin in Elementary School?

While many LGBTQ-inclusive school supports begin in middle or high school, it is critical for elementary schools to establish a foundation of respect and understanding for all people. In addition to gaining knowledge and developing skills, elementary students typically begin to develop an understanding of themselves and the world and people around them. As such, the social environment of classrooms and schools provides the opportunity for children to initiate and develop relationships and navigate increasingly complex peer relationships. That complexity can often lead to incidents of name-calling and use of hurtful and biased words. If left uninterrupted by educators and other adult role models, these behaviors can take root in children's hearts and minds.

Furthermore, an increasing number of students in elementary school are breaking gender stereotypes, identifying as LGBTQ, and coming from LGBTQ-headed families. GLSEN's Playgrounds and Prejudice (2012) report found that 1 in 8 students did not conform to "traditional" gender roles, and that these children faced more hostile learning environments than their peers. Gender nonconforming elementary students were more likely to have mean rumors or lies spread about them, and to say that they had missed school in the past month because they felt unsafe (GLSEN).

Beginning these conversations in elementary school will help young people develop empathy for a diverse group of people, and to learn about identities that might relate to their families or even themselves. It is never too early for schools to set up a foundation of understanding and respect.

Best Practices for Inclusion:

Administrators and District Leaders:

Attend and arrange for Professional Development for Educators that specifically focuses on LGBTQ people and families, interrupting anti-LGBTQ comments and harmful gender stereotype reinforcement, and LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum.

Communicate a commitment to LGBTQ visibilty and support to educators and families at the start of the year

Distinguish between pushback, concerns, and questions. Be prepared to share the rationale behind your support, and your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and respect for all

Read and Share GLSEN's Respect for All Resources for district and school leaders

Support and assign educators to oversee school-wide celebrations such as Ally Week (September), LGBTQ History Month (October), No Name-Calling Week (January), and Pride Month (June)

Establish a diversity point-person in the school who has had LGBTQ-specific training

Read GLSEN's National School Climate Survey to consider what foundations of understanding and support you can offer proactively in elementary school, and consider conducting your own local research.

Classroom Educators:

With support from your administration, share your commitment to diversity and respect, including the LGBTQ community, at Curriculum/Back to School night at the beginning of the year.

Read LGBTQ-inclusive picture books and encourage discussions around respect and diversity.

Ensure that any lessons on families have examples of LGBTQ-headed families, and that any communications to students' family members address "Families" rather than "Mom and Dad." Consider celebrating "Family Day" rather than Mother's and Father's days.

Avoid using gender to separate students in lines or seating arrangements.

Teach about identity that includes gender using GLSEN's Identify Flowers.

Learn more about gender-inclusive language with our Educator Resources and introduce gender neutral pronouns using our Pronouns Lesson.
Bring pronoun visibility into self-portraits and occasionally at morning meeting

Connect with speciality educators to share what the students are learning and for reinforcement.

Advocacy: Addressing Questions and Pushback

Inviting families into conversations and clear communication around the direction of the school is a valuable experience when introducing LGBTQ visbility. LGBTQ-integration in elementary school should be introduced by administrators or school leaders and communicated to staff members during Professional Development before the start of a new school year, and to families at the start of the year on curriculum or Back to School night. Frontloading with the schools' responsibility to provide a safe and supportive learning environment for all students along with a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, can be a strong start to the school year and a time to address any misconceptions or apprehensions. We encourage school leaders to invite families into the school to have these conversations with coffee hours, panel events, or movie screenings.

In addition to the rationale provided at the start of this resource, the following talking points can provide clarity for anyone wondering about the benefits of LGBTQ-inclusion:

LGBTQ-inclusion and visibility benefits all students by promoting acceptance and respect, and teaching them more about the diverse people and families in the world.

LGBTQ-inclusion supports a student's ability to empathize, connect, and collaborate with a diverse group of peers, and encourages respect for all.

All students deserve to feel welcome at school, including students who identify as LGBTQ and come from LGBTQ-headed families.

Addressing LGBTQ people in discussions at school acknowledges the reality that many students come from LGBTQ-headed families, are being taught by LGBTQ-educators, and are, increasingly, identifying as LGBTQ themselves even in elementary school.

Supportive administrators can support this work address families and be open to hearing their questions, being careful to distinguish questions or concerns from negative pushback.

Example statement from administration: We are conscious of providing age-appropriate and developmentally-appropriate lessons and activities that meet all of our students where they are when addressing LGBTQ-visibility and inclusion. Our goal is to work together as one community through this practice. We encourage you to reach out to us or our teachers throughout the year if you have any questions or would like further information as we support our students in this important work.

Additional Resources:

To connect with educators around the country who are implementing LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum and working towards LGBTQ-supports in their schools, join GLSEN's Educator Forum on Facebook and sign up for our Educator Network.

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LGBTQ-Visibility and Integration in Elementary Schools

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While many LGBTQ-inclusive school supports begin in middle or high school, it is critical for elementary schools to establish a foundation of respect and understanding for all people. In addition to gaining knowledge and developing skills, elementary students typically begin to develop an understanding of themselves and the world and people around them.

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Gives the mile stones in the U.S. starting in the 1900's about LGBTQ+.

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Stonewall Uprising | Timeline

Milestones in the American Gay Rights Movement

From the Collection: The LGBTQ+ experience

Gay rights demonstration at the Democratic National Convention, New York City, 1976. Library of Congress

December 10, 1924
The Society for Human Rights is founded by Henry Gerber in Chicago. The society is the first gay rights organization as well as the oldest documented in America. After receiving a charter from the state of Illinois, the society publishes the first American publication for homosexuals, Friendship and Freedom. Soon after its founding, the society disbands due to political pressure.

1948
Biologist and sex researcher Alfred Kinsey publishes Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. From his research Kinsey concludes that homosexual behavior is not restricted to people who identify themselves as homosexual and that 37% of men have enjoyed homosexual activities at least once. While psychologists and psychiatrists in the 1940s consider homosexuality a form of illness, the findings surprise many conservative notions about sexuality.

November 11, 1950
In Los Angeles, gay rights activist Harry Hay founds America's first sustained national gay rights organization. In an attempt to change public perception of homosexuality, the Mattachine Society aims to "eliminate discrimination, derision, prejudice and bigotry," to assimilate homosexuals into mainstream society, and to cultivate the notion of an "ethical homosexual culture."

December 15, 1950
A Senate report titled "Employment of Homosexuals and Other Sex Perverts in Government" is distributed to members of Congress after the federal government had covertly investigated employees' sexual orientation at the beginning of the Cold War. The report states since homosexuality is a mental illness, homosexuals "constitute security risks" to the nation because "those who engage in overt acts of perversion lack the emotional stability of normal persons."

Over the previous few years, more than 4,380 gay men and women had been discharged from the military and around 500 fired from their jobs with the government. The purging will become known as the "lavender scare."

April, 1952
The American Psychiatric Association lists homosexuality as a sociopathic personality disturbance in its first publication of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Immediately following the manual's release, many professionals in medicine, mental health and social sciences criticize the categorization due to lack of empirical and scientific data.

April 27, 1953
President Dwight Eisenhower signs Executive Order 10450, banning homosexuals from working for the federal government or any of its private contractors. The Order lists homosexuals as security risks, along with alcoholics and neurotics.

September 21, 1955
In San Francisco, the Daughters of Bilitis becomes the first lesbian rights organization in the United States. The organization hosts social functions, providing alternatives to lesbian bars and clubs, which are frequently raided by police.

August 30, 1956
American psychologist Evelyn Hooker shares her paper "The Adjustment of the Male Overt Homosexual" at the American Psychological Association Convention in Chicago. After administering psychological tests, such as the Rorschach, to groups of homosexual and heterosexual males, Hooker's research concludes homosexuality is not a clinical entity and that heterosexuals and homosexuals do not differ significantly. Hooker's experiment becomes very influential, changing clinical perceptions of homosexuality.

January 13, 1958
In the landmark case One, Inc. v. Olesen, the United States Supreme Court rules in favor of the First Amendment rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) magazine "One: The Homosexual Magazine." The suit was filed after the U.S. Postal Service and FBI declared the magazine obscene material, and it marks the first time the United States Supreme Court rules in favor of homosexuals.

January 1, 1962
Illinois repeals its sodomy laws, becoming the first U.S. state to decriminalize homosexuality.

July 4, 1965
At Independence Hall in Philadelphia, picketers begin staging the first Reminder Day to call public attention to the lack of civil rights for LGBT people. The gatherings will continue annually for five years.

April 21, 1966
Members of the Mattachine Society stage a "sip-in" at the Julius Bar in Greenwich Village, where the New York Liquor Authority prohibits serving gay patrons in bars on the basis that homosexuals are "disorderly." Society president Dick Leitsch and other members announce their homosexuality and are immediately refused service.

Following the sip-in, the Mattachine Society will sue the New York Liquor Authority. Although no laws are overturned, the New York City Commission on Human Rights declares that homosexuals have the right to be served.

August, 1966
After transgender customers become raucous in a 24-hour San Francisco cafeteria, management calls police. When a police officer manhandles one of the patrons, she throws coffee in his face and a riot ensues, eventually spilling out onto the street, destroying police and public property.

Following the riot, activists established the National Transsexual Counseling Unit, the first peer-run support and advocacy organization in the world.

June 28, 1969
Patrons of the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village riot when police officers attempt to raid the popular gay bar around 1am. Since its establishment in 1967, the bar had been frequently raided by police officers trying to clean up the neighborhood of "sexual deviants."

Angry gay youth clash with aggressive police officers in the streets, leading to a three-day riot during which thousands of protestors receive only minimal local news coverage. Nonetheless, the event will be credited with reigniting the fire behind America's modern LGBT rights movement.

June 28, 1970
Christopher St. Liberation Day commemorates the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Following the event, thousands of members of the LGBT community march through New York into Central Park, in what will be considered America's first gay pride parade.

In the coming decades, the annual gay pride parade will spread to dozens of countries around the world.

December 15, 1973
The board of the American Psychiatric Association votes to remove homosexuality from its list of mental illnesses.

January, 1974
Kathy Kozachenko becomes the first openly gay American elected to public office when she wins a seat on the Ann Arbor, Michigan City Council.

June 7, 1977
Singer and conservative Southern Baptist Anita Bryant leads a successful campaign with the "Save Our Children" Crusade to repeal a gay rights ordinance in Dade County, Florida. Bryant faces severe backlash from gay rights supporters across the U.S. The gay rights ordinance will not be reinstated in Dade County until December 1, 1998, more than 20 years later.

November 8, 1977
Harvey Milk wins a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and is responsible for introducing a gay rights ordinance protecting gays and lesbians from being fired from their jobs. Milk also leads a successful campaign against Proposition 6, an initiative forbidding homosexual teachers.

A year later, on November 27, 1978, former city supervisor Dan White assassinates Milk. White's actions are motivated by jealousy and depression, rather than homophobia.

May 21, 1979
Dan White is convicted of voluntary manslaughter and is sentenced to seven years in prison. Outraged by what they believed to be a lenient sentence, more than 5,000 protesters ransack San Francisco's City Hall, doing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property damage in the surrounding area.

The following night, approximately 10,000 people gather on San Francisco's Castro and Market streets for a peaceful demonstration to commemorate what would have been Milk's 49th birthday.

October 14, 1979
An estimated 75,000 people participate in the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. LGBT people and straight allies demand equal civil rights and urge for the passage of protective civil rights legislature.

July 8, 1980
The Democratic Rules Committee states that it will not discriminate against homosexuals. At their National Convention on August 11-14, the Democrats become the first major political party to endorse a homosexual rights platform.

July 3, 1981
The New York Times prints the first story of a rare pneumonia and skin cancer found in 41 gay men in New York and California. The CDC initially refers to the disease as GRID, Gay Related Immune Deficiency Disorder.

When the symptoms are found outside the gay community, Bruce Voeller, biologist and founder of the National Gay Task Force, successfully lobbies to change the name of the disease to AIDS.

March 2, 1982
Wisconsin becomes the first U.S. state to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

March 10, 1987
AIDS advocacy group ACT UP (The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) is formed in response to the devastating affects the disease has had on the gay and lesbian community in New York. The group holds demonstrations against pharmaceutical companies profiteering from AIDS-related drugs as well as the lack of AIDS policies protecting patients from outrageous prescription prices.

October 11, 1987
Hundreds of thousands of activists take part in the National March on Washington to demand that President Ronald Reagan address the AIDS crisis.

Although AIDS had been reported first in 1981, it is not until the end of his presidency that Reagan speaks publicly about the epidemic.

May - June, 1988
The CDC mails a brochure, Understanding AIDS, to every household in the U.S. Approximately 107 million brochures are mailed.

December 1, 1988
The World Health Organization organizes the first World AIDS Day to raise awareness of the spreading pandemic.

August 18, 1990
President george Bushsigns the Ryan White Care Act, a federally funded program for people living with AIDS. Ryan White, an Indiana teenager, contracted AIDS in 1984 through a tainted hemophilia treatment. After being barred from attending school because of his HIV-positive status, Ryan White becomes a well-known activist for AIDS research and anti-discrimination.

1991
Created by the New York-based Visual AIDS, the red ribbon is adopted as a symbol of awareness and compassion for those living with HIV/AIDS.

December 21, 1993
The Department of Defense issues a directive prohibiting the U.S. Military from barring applicants from service based on their sexual orientation. "Applicants... shall not be asked or required to reveal whether they are homosexual, " states the new policy, which still forbids applicants from engaging in homosexual acts or making a statement that he or she is homosexual. This policy is known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

May 20, 1996
In the case of Romer v. Evans, the United States Supreme Court decides that Colorado's 2nd amendment, denying gays and lesbians protections against discrimination, is unconstitutional, calling them "special rights."

September 21, 1996
President Clinton signs the Defense of Marriage Act into law. The law defines marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman and that no state is required to recognize a same-sex marriage from out of state.

April 1, 1998
Coretta Scott King, widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., calls on the civil rights community to join the struggle against homophobia. She receives criticism from members of the black civil rights movement for comparing civil rights to gay rights.

April 26, 2000
Vermont becomes the first state in the U.S. to legalize civil unions and registered partnerships between same-sex couples.

June 26, 2003
In Lawrence v. Texas the U.S. Supreme Court rules that sodomy laws in the U.S. are unconstitutional.

May 18, 2004
Massachusetts becomes the first state to legalize gay marriage. The court finds the prohibition of gay marriage unconstitutional because it denies dignity and equality of all individuals.

In the following six years, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Iowa and Washington D.C. will follow suit.

August 9, 2007
Sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, the Logo cable channel hosts the first American presidential forum focusing specifically on LGBT issues, inviting each presidential candidate. Six Democrats participate in the forum, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, while all Republican candidates decline.

November 4, 2008
California voters approve Proposition 8, making same-sex marriage in California illegal. The passing of the ballot garners national attention from gay-rights supporters across the U.S. Prop 8 inspires the NOH8 campaign, a photo project that uses celebrities to promote marriage equality.

June 17, 2009
President Obama signs a Presidential Memorandum allowing same-sex partners of federal employees to receive certain benefits. The memorandum does not cover full health coverage.

October 28, 2009
The Matthew Shepard Act is passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama on October 28th. The measure expands the 1969 U.S. Federal Hate Crime Law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

Matthew Shepard was tortured and murdered near Laramie, Wyoming on October 7, 1998 because of his sexual orientation.

August 4, 2010
A federal judge in San Francisco decides that gays and lesbians have the constitutional right to marry and that Prop 8 is unconstitutional. Lawyers will challenge the finding.

December 18, 2010
The U.S. Senate votes 65-31 to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. Military.

February 23, 2011
President Obama states his administration will no longer defend the Defense of Marriage Act, which bans the recognition of same-sex marriage.

June 24, 2011
New York State passes the Marriage Equity Act, becoming the largest state thus far to legalize gay marriage.

June 26, 2015
With a 5-4 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, the U.S. Supreme Court declares same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states.

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Milestones in the American Gay Rights Movement | American Experience | PBS

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In 1924, the first gay rights organization is founded by Henry Gerber in Chicago.

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Gives history of LGBTQ dating back to anccient Greece.

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LGBTQ History | Narrated by Wanda Sykes | Special thanks to Ellen DeGeneres and ellentube

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This talks about why we should talk about this topic in school, laws related to teaching it in schools, and why it matters.

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This TED Talk explains why it LGBTQ+AI topics should be taught in school, from a perspective of a family member who has parents that are lesbians and who has a transgender brother.

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Why LGBTQ+ should be taught in schools | Dakota Tollerton | TEDxYouth@Bargate

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This article explains the impact of inclusive curriculum not just for the targeted audience, but as well for the difference it can make on the students who are not targeted.

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People are sometimes shocked by the notion that teachers should address lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) topics in elementary schools. Maybe they think children those ages are too young, that those conversations are better had at home, or that the whole topic is simply inappropriate. Such concerns often arise because people assume talking about people who identify as LGBTQ means talking about sex. That is not what we believe at all.

Instead, when we advocate for elementary school teachers to address LGBTQ topics, we simply want them to talk about the diversity of families and relationships and communities in ways that include LGBTQ people. After all, public schools are for everyone, yet many elementary schools are too frequently unwelcoming and unaccommodating of all children, especially children of LGBTQ parents or those who are or may be LGBTQ themselves. LGBTQ people exist in children's lives in myriad ways. If children themselves don't have LGBTQ parents, perhaps they have a peer with two moms at daycare or a relative who comes out as gay, or maybe they've heard a story about transgender rights on the news. Elementary school students are surrounded by these experiences, but their teachers are often underprepared when it comes to realizing why LGBTQ topics might matter to their work as elementary school teachers and how they might make their classrooms more inclusive.

As queer-identified women and former elementary school teachers who now work in universities as teacher educators, we've spent the past decade developing a range of approaches to help elementary school teachers integrate LGBTQ-inclusive practices into their teaching: expanding representations of LGBTQ people, questioning categories with regard to gender and sexuality, and questioning representations within LGBTQ-inclusive texts. We know that no two states, districts, schools, nor teachers are exactly alike; we know that what works one place might be impossible or ineffective in another. But we also believe that every teacher can do something to help make her or his classroom safer and more inclusive to better serve LGBTQ children and families.* These approaches provide options to help everyone find something that works no matter the context.

Below we explain why LGBTQ-inclusive elementary school instruction matters, outline the approaches we have developed and have used in real-life classrooms, and suggest resources for teachers as they do this work. This article draws from our book, Reading the Rainbow: LGBTQ-Inclusive Literacy Instruction in the Elementary Classroom, where we also provide examples from our work as coteachers and researchers with second-, fourth-, and fifth-grade teachers in Michigan and Ohio to illustrate what each of these methods can look like in practice.

Why LGBTQ-Inclusive Curriculum Matters in Elementary Schools

Research shows that including LGBTQ topics in elementary schools makes a positive difference to the learning environment of a wide variety of students. For example, 75.2 percent of LGBTQ students in schools with an inclusive curriculum said their peers were accepting of LGBTQ people, compared with 39.6 percent of those without an inclusive curriculum. ¹ This acceptance is particularly important for the estimated 6 million people with one or more LGBTQ parents. ²

However, only half of elementary school teachers (49 percent) say a student with a lesbian, gay, or bisexual parent would feel comfortable at the school where they teach, and only 42 percent think that would be true for a student with a transgender parent. ³ Even though most elementary school teachers address family diversity generally, only 2 in 10 elementary students (18 percent) actually learn about families with two moms or two dads. ⁴ This silence sends a message to children with LGBTQ parents that their families are not "real" families and that their families are not accepted in schools.

Including LGBTQ topics in elementary school classrooms is also important for children who themselves identify as LGBTQ, whether they come out while they are young or, more commonly, later in life. After all, every LGBTQ adult was once a school-age child. Unfortunately, many of those children never see LGBTQ people included in the curriculum. And, too often, they see their teachers fail to intervene when other students use the term "gay" in hateful ways; sometimes they even hear such slurs from teachers themselves. ⁵

These behaviors also affect children who are bullied for being perceived as LGBTQ. Because LGBTQ people have historically been feared, hated, and discriminated against, words to describe LGBTQ people are often used by children to shame people of all identities whose behaviors fall outside the norm. What teachers do and say in response can have implications for children for years to come.

Elementary schools are also affected by the increased awareness about the lives and needs of transgender children. Transgender children are those who, having been assigned a gender at birth, consistently and persistently insist they are actually a different gender. ⁶ Sometimes children identify as a different gender as young as age 3. ⁷ Pediatricians and psychologists suggest, and recent research findings confirm, that supporting the gender identity a child asserts is an important part of healthy development. 8 This means elementary schools should be ready to affirm transgender children and their families in order to support children's mental health and development.

Lastly, including LGBTQ topics in elementary school classrooms is important to do for all children because we all live in a world with LGBTQ people. Children-even if they have a mom and a dad, identify as straight, and fit gender norms-will encounter LGBTQ people in their families, schools, workplaces, and communities. When teachers implement a curriculum that ignores these realities, students are left on their own to process what they hear about LGBTQ people in popular culture and to learn respectful language for talking about LGBTQ topics. Just as white people must be invested in ending racism and men must stand up for women's rights, non-LGBTQ people have an important role to play in making the world safer for and more inclusive of LGBTQ people. Schools teach children about the world and equip students to live in it; that world includes people who identify as LGBTQ, and therefore schools should include LGBTQ topics. The following approaches will help educators understand how to do that.

1. Expanding Representations with LGBTQ-Inclusive Texts

One of the best and most direct ways to make your classroom safer for and more inclusive of LGBTQ people and families is to have books that feature LGBTQ characters. As author Rudine Sims Bishop ⁹ first argued decades ago, books serve as "windows and mirrors." "Mirror books" validate for readers that they are not alone, that their identity or life experience is not strange, and that there is a community of people just like them out there. When readers receive mirrors for parts of themselves, they get the message that their experiences are worth writing about and are worth being read. "Window books," on the other hand, give readers insight into another person's experience. Rather than show readers more of themselves, these books show the way into other worlds that readers haven't seen firsthand but can learn from nevertheless. They remind students that not everyone is exactly like them, and they help prepare students for the complexity and diversity of the larger world. ¹⁰

As teachers, we need to remember that all readers deserve a balance of windows and mirrors. It is this balance that helps us feel affirmed while also moving beyond our own experiences. It helps children recognize they are not alone while at the same time reminding them that they live in a world with other people who are different from them. Both sides of this equation are important. Therefore, when we bring books with LGBTQ people and families into our classrooms-much like when we ensure we have books in our classrooms representing different races, ethnicities, and life experiences-we expand the number of mirrors available for LGBTQ students or children of LGBTQ families, while also expanding the number of windows available for everyone else.

So how does a teacher include a book with LGBTQ characters in her teaching? The short answer is just like you'd include any other book! You could put it on your shelf for a child to find on his or her own. You could recommend it to a child who you think would enjoy it or offer it as an option for literature circles, book clubs, or paired reading groups. Or you could read it aloud, maybe even highlighting it in your teaching. Reading a book can be a wonderful way to open up conversations about topics we don't often discuss in schools because the book can do so much of the work. You'll likely find that your adult worries about reading LGBTQ-inclusive books in the classroom are rarely shared by your students. After all, in addition to sending important messages about who belongs and who is worthy of being represented, many LGBTQ-inclusive books are also compelling and interesting reads that students and teachers alike truly enjoy. When Jill cotaught with a fourth- and fifth-grade teacher who read Alex Gino's George aloud, every time the teachers closed the book at the end of the day's reading, students would groan loudly and beg for "just one more chapter!" In a classroom Caitlin visited regularly, Patricia Polacco's In Our Mothers' House, Cheryl Kilodavis' My Princess Boy, and James Howe's Totally Joe were popular choices during silent reading time.

Reading LGBTQ-inclusive books doesn't have to be done on a special day or otherwise separated from your curriculum. When writing a book report on In Our Mothers' House, for example, a fifth-grade student we know read it independently, summarized the text, identified themes, evaluated the author's writing, and made both text-to-self and text-to-world connections. Because his teacher had included LGBTQ content in classroom discussions prior to his writing of this report, he was able to critically think about that content in sophisticated ways.

When teaching the expected content standards for your grade level, there are many opportunities for this kind of integration. LGBTQ-inclusive stories like Asha's Mums or Donovan's Big Day can be incorporated into language arts units on literary elements like understanding characters, comparing and contrasting, sequencing, understanding descriptive language, or finding the theme of a text. You could add King & King to genre studies of fairy tales and explore Lumberjanes or The Popularity Papers in investigations of graphic novels and/or series books. You could incorporate books such as And Tango Makes Three or Daddy, Papa, and Me or The Family Book into an exploration of family structures in social studies. In all these cases, you can teach required content while still providing important representations to your students.

2. Questioning Categories with Books You Already Use

If it's difficult for you, given your school or district, to read books with LGBTQ characters in them, you can make your classroom safer and more inclusive of LGBTQ people and families by discussing gender and relationships generally in broader ways, even when reading books you already teach. After all, gender is relevant for children of all ages. While gender and sexuality are not the same things, an idea called the heterosexual matrix ¹¹ shows how they become interrelated in our culture. We expect that women will have female bodies, will act feminine, and will want to date and partner with men. We expect that men will have male bodies, will act masculine, and will want to date and partner with women. Of course, in reality, all these categories are much more complicated, but we continually revert to these basic ideas. Ask almost any young child to draw a picture of a girl, and she will have long hair. We might know plenty of girls and women with short hair and boys with long hair too, but culturally, we teach that a way to distinguish boys from girls is, among other characteristics, to look at hair.

By expanding our ideas about any one piece of this puzzle-how boys or girls should look and act, for example-we make space in the whole system, creating more room for people who live any part of it differently than our stereotypes suggest. If we help students see there aren't strict rules about what girls and boys can do or how girls and boys should be, then we help to blur those divisions between categories. This blurring can help students learn to respect people who live those categories differently. When people disrupt any of the matrix categories through their gender identity, through their gender expression, or with whom and how they might fall in love, they are queering-disrupting and expanding-the heterosexual matrix to make more kinds of lives and loves visible.

Teaching in this way, a method that we call "questioning categories," means helping your students investigate how both people in the real world and characters in books disrupt the heterosexual matrix and to what effect. We believe such questioning helps students become aware of and more sensitive to the multiple ways of "doing gender" or being in relationships.

Why, for example, does Kate DiCamillo's Despereaux make his mother so disappointed that he isn't big and strong? Why does he get in so much trouble for being a mouse who doesn't act like other mice and who falls in love with someone he's not supposed to? Why is it a big deal for Charlotte Zolotow's William to have a doll? Why does his dad care so much and get so angry about it? Why is Jacqueline Kelly's Calpurnia Tate so worried about having no interest in "female" jobs such as cooking and sewing as would be expected of her, recognizing instead that her "nature" was leading her to be a scientist?

Books like these, as well as others, including Michael Hall's Red: A Crayon's Story and Tomie DePaola's Oliver Button Is a Sissy, provide indirect yet important opportunities to reflect on what we think about and how we treat people who don't behave in ways society expects. Such conversations can easily be connected to students' lives and real-world experiences in ways that can broaden their understanding of LGBTQ people and families, even without reading terms like "gay" and "lesbian."

Other considerations might also be useful when questioning categories and expanding the heterosexual matrix. For example, when reading nonfiction, students and teachers can consider how there are different expectations and assumptions made about a person based on gender, and how those expectations inform how we understand gender as a culture. Likewise, teachers can ask students to think about the kinds of relationships between people in the texts they are reading. Are they based in assumptions about who is "allowed" to be connected to each other? What knowledge does the author assume the reader has about how men and women or boys and girls act and relate to each other? Is a story shaped by the character's refusal to conform to social norms? How so? Does the way the character looks to others match the way he understands himself? What happens to people who don't fit in? Whose relationships do people make fun of and why? Questioning categories in these ways provides an important lens through which your students can engage with the characters in books, as well as develop critical reading and thinking skills.

3. Questioning Representations in LGBTQ Books

In her now-famous TED talk, Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie ¹² discussed what she calls the danger of the single story: the stereotype or surface-level picture of a person, place, or event. The problem with relying on such stereotypes, Adichie says, isn't that they're incorrect necessarily, but that they're incomplete. By treating a single representation of the story as the full story about a particular identity category, people create limited, ultimately inaccurate portrayals. Therefore, even though expanding representations by including even one book with an LGBTQ character provides new "windows and mirrors" for readers, the danger of the single story reminds us that it is only one specific portrayal and not a representation of an entire community.

One way to address this is to try to layer different representations in order to provide students the most nuanced, complex, thorough picture of a community. Therefore, the third approach, questioning representations, brings together the first two; it helps you include representations of LGBTQ people while still questioning norms and silences involved in those representations. In other words, this approach helps us move away from asking simply if LGBTQ people are represented and instead turn our attention more specifically to how they are represented and what the overall message is of those representations. This questioning of categories even within LGBTQ-inclusive texts can help students see more possibilities for other people and for themselves.

This work is especially important because many of the LGBTQ representations in children's books are of white, cisgender, partnered, middle-class adults. Helping students notice the (relative) absence of other, more diverse LGBTQ experiences within the books they read expands students' worldviews about who LGBTQ people are. In addition to books, you can layer representations with text sets, videos, newspaper articles of current events, and guest speakers. Such work also supports standards related to research skills, reading from multiple perspectives, the use of textual evidence, and comparing and contrasting to build understanding.

It's particularly helpful to identify books that show characters of different races, classes, religions, and gender expressions. An example we love and have read with students is Jacqueline Woodson's After Tupac and D Foster. When reading that text, we help students explore how the queerness of a black character like Tash informs that character's life in different ways than does the queerness of a white character such as James Howe's Joe in The Misfits and Totally Joe. Both Tash and Joe, like all of us, have intersecting identities ¹³: they are not just gay or just male, but are gay and male and belong to a specific race and class all at the same time in one body.

Because these books give readers the opportunity to enter the lives of very different people, students more easily see how multiple identities intersect. Just as important, the single story of being gay, too often understood in terms of how white wealthy people experience it, is interrupted. The richness of these texts deeply engages students and stimulates a desire to understand the worlds that the characters live in, while simultaneously supporting connections to their own lives.

Getting Started

Because including LGBTQ topics in elementary schools is still somewhat rare, we know you might have concerns about how it will work in your classroom. For that reason, it can be good to think through what concerns you have so you can brainstorm ways to meet those challenges. Sometimes teachers are worried about saying the wrong thing, or what will happen if they don't know the answer to a child's question. Trust us that everyone feels this way sometimes. Knowing all of the right words is not the goal. The willingness to try, to be open to continually learning, to revise the ways that we speak or label or present an idea, is what all good teaching is about, including LGBTQ-inclusive teaching. It's always OK to tell a child that you don't know something or that you aren't sure but that you can look up the answer together. It's also OK to say something like, "That's a better question for you to ask your families at home."

Another concern that we hear from teachers is that they fear resistance from parents of their students and/or from their school administrators. Each situation is different, of course, but at schools we've worked with, resistance has come from a very small number of parents; the vast majority have not minded and have even supported this work. ¹⁴ But the fear of parental resistance is real. Therefore, it is useful to have thought through and to be able to articulate to others why you are doing this work. We suggest relying on research, including the findings cited in this article and other statistics from GLSEN, about the power of inclusive classrooms. You may decide to send home a statement at the beginning of the year about how you are committed to ensuring that all students have a safe space to learn or about how your class will read and discuss a variety of identities and communities over the year. Responding to resistance may also involve understanding and communicating the ways the LGBTQ-inclusive teaching that you do connects to your mandated standards or is in keeping with district policies, particularly antibullying or nondiscrimination policies.

It's important to recognize that states have different laws with regard to LGBTQ inclusion in schools. You can learn more about your state's laws by visiting the Human Rights Campaign's website. There, you might note what protections are available in states that have LGBTQ-inclusive antibullying and nondiscrimination laws as well as any legal restrictions that apply to your state. If you teach in one of the seven states (Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas) that currently have some kind of "No Promo Homo" law that doesn't allow teachers to say the words "gay" or "lesbian," it might make more sense for you to use questioning categories (approach No. 2) to LGBTQ inclusion rather than expanding representations (approach No. 1). To ensure that you are up to date on your specific context, consult directly with organizations like GLSEN, the Human Rights Campaign, the American Civil Liberties Union, or a state-level LGBTQ advocacy group.

No matter where you teach, it will be helpful to build your knowledge and locate sources of support. Finding parents and other teachers who are interested in LGBTQ-inclusive teaching can be a way to build networks and generate new ideas. In addition to research, GLSEN offers lesson plans, professional development opportunities, and other resources for educators. The Human Rights Campaign's " Welcoming Schools" project is elementary-school focused and offers book lists, training opportunities, and lesson plans.
Many professional organizations also have statements that speak to the importance of LGBTQ inclusion and resources for teachers doing such work. The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), for example, has an Intellectual Freedom Center to help teachers should any book they use be challenged or censored. NCTE's website contains policy statements, a rationale for reading banned books, and activities to use when teaching books that are frequently challenged. And, of course, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) is another important source of support as you begin doing the work of LGBTQ inclusion in your classrooms. The AFT's website offers many such resources.

Elementary schools are a microcosm of our larger world, full of diverse identities, ideologies, and approaches to teaching and learning. Of course, this can cause messiness, false starts, redos, and unintentional errors, just like it does in the world outside of schools.

But when that diversity is recognized, incorporated, and celebrated in elementary schools, it can create learning spaces that teach all students how to treat one another and that are welcoming to all students and families, including those in the LGBTQ community. These are the elementary schools that students and families deserve. Let's work together to make them a reality.

Jill M. Hermann-Wilmarth is a professor of social foundations at Western Michigan University. Caitlin L. Ryan is an associate professor in the College of Education at East Carolina University. Parts of this article are excerpted from Caitlin L. Ryan and Jill M. Hermann-Wilmarth, Reading the Rainbow: LGBTQ-Inclusive Literacy Instruction in the Elementary Classroom (New York: Teachers College Press). Reprinted by permission of the publisher. Copyright © 2018 by Teachers College, Columbia University. All rights reserved.

*To learn how schools can help LGBTQ students thrive, see " More Than a Safe Space" in the Winter 2016-2017 issue of American Educator. ( back to article)

Endnotes

1. J. G. Kosciw et al., The 2015 National School Climate Survey: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth in Our Nation's Schools (New York: GLSEN, 2016).

2. G. J. Gates, "LGB Families and Relationships: Analyses of the 2013 National Health Interview Survey," Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law, October 2014.

3. GLSEN and Harris Interactive, Playgrounds and Prejudice: Elementary School Climate in the United States; a Survey of Students and Teachers (New York: GLSEN, 2012).

4. GLSEN and Harris Interactive, Playgrounds and Prejudice.

5. GLSEN and Harris Interactive, Playgrounds and Prejudice; and Kosciw et al., 2015 National School Climate Survey.

6. J. Rafferty, "Gender-Diverse and Transgender Children," American Academy of Pediatrics (2018), www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/gradeschool/Pages/Gender-No...; and C. Meier and J. Harris, "Fact Sheet: Gender Diversity and Transgender Identity in Children," Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, American Psychological Association Division 44, https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/gradeschool/Pages/Gender-Diverse-Transgender-Children.aspx

7. S. A. Brill and R. Pepper, The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Families and Professionals (Berkeley, CA: Cleis Press, 2008); and S. F. Leibowitz and N. P. Spack, "The Development of a Gender Identity Psychosocial Clinic: Treatment Issues, Logistical Considerations, Interdisciplinary Cooperation, and Future Initiatives," Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America 20 (2011): 701-724.

8. Rafferty, "Gender-Diverse and Transgender Children"; Meier and Harris, "Fact Sheet"; K. R. Olson et al., "Mental Health of Transgender Children Who Are Supported in Their Identities," Pediatrics 137, no. 3 (2016): 1-8; and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, A Practitioner's Resource Guide: Helping Families to Support Their LGBT Children (Rockville, MD: SAMHSA, 2014).

9. R. Bishop, "Mirrors, Windows and Sliding Glass," Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom 6, no. 3 (Summer 1990): ix-xi.10. C. M. Tschida, C. L. Ryan, and A. S. Ticknor, "Building on Windows and Mirrors: Encouraging the Disruption of 'Single Stories' through Children's Literature," Journal of Children's Literature 40, no. 1 (2014): 28-39.

10. C. M. Tschida, C. L. Ryan, and A. S. Ticknor, "Building on Windows and Mirrors: Encouraging the Disruption of 'Single Stories' through Children's Literature," Journal of Children's Literature 40, no. 1(2014): 28-39.

11. J. Butler, Gender Trouble, 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 1999).

12. C. N. Adichie, "The Danger of a Single Story," TED, July 2009.

13. K. Crenshaw, "Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color," in Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement, ed. by K. Crenshaw et al. (New York: The New Press, 1991): 357-383.14. C. L. Ryan and J. M. Hermann-Wilmarth, Reading the Rainbow: LGBTQ-Inclusive Literacy Instruction in the Elementary Classroom (New York: Teachers College Press, 2018).

14. C.L. Ryan and J. M. Hermann-Wilmarth, Reading the Rainbow: LGBTQ Inclusive Instruction in the Elementary Classroom (New York: Teachers College Press, 2018).

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People are sometimes shocked by the notion that teachers should address lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) topics in elementary schools. Maybe they think children those ages are too young, that those conversations are better had at home, or that the whole topic is simply inappropriate.

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This talks about how important it is for the LGBTQ+AI students to see them selfs in the content and how it can impact them.

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School Curricula Inclusive of LGBTQ+ History, Culture, and People; Sex Education

Background

Inclusive school curriculum standards legislation includes laws that require the inclusion not only of LGBTQ+ people, history, and culture, but also Black, Native, and Indigenous people and people with disabilities. School environments with inclusive curricula are safer learning environments for all youth and have better educational outcomes (GLSEN, 2020).

Anti-LGBTQ+ curriculum legislation includes state or local laws that restrict or prohibit discussing LGBTQ+ people or topics. Although these laws are often referred to as "no promo homo" laws, Rosky (2017) suggests that there are five types of anti-LGBTQ+ curriculum legislation: "don't say gay," "no promo homo," "anti-homo," "promo hetero," and "abstinence until marriage." While these laws stem mostly from HIV-epidemic-era homophobia, they also center narrow views of sexual and reproductive health that have been used to systematically discriminate against poor people, people of color, and people with disabilities (see Barcelos, 2020; Betts, 2021).

While anti-LGBTQ+ curriculum laws are often intended to only apply to a single aspect of educational curriculum-most often sexual health education-their vague nature can be misapplied to limit inclusive education, programs, and policies. However, in addition to legal ongoing legal challenges, as of late 2021, seven states have enacted legislation that advances inclusive curricular standards. They are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Nevada, and Oregon.

Suggested discussion points

LGBTQ+ youth are not often taught about LGBTQ+ history, culture, and people. The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (2019) found that only 19.4% of schools taught positive representations of LGBTQ+ history, culture, and people to youth; further, 17% of schools taught negative representations, which reinforced negative stereotypes. Only 21.4% of Black youth were taught positive representations of LGBTQ+ history, culture, or people at school (GLSEN, 2020).

LGBTQ+ youth do not have school-based access to LGBTQ+ history, culture, and people. GLSEN (2019) reports that only 48.2% could find LGBTQ+ relevant content at the school library, and only 55.9% could access LGBTQ+ content from school computers.

School environments which are inclusive of LGBTQ+ history, culture, and people are safer learning environments for LGBTQ+ youth and have better educational outcomes. Students at schools with inclusive education reported hearing fewer slurs, lower levels of victimization, felt safer, missed fewer days of school, and had a higher GPA in comparison to students whose schools did not cover LGBTQ+ topics in education (GLSEN, 2019). LGBTQ+ students whose schools had inclusive curricula also reported feeling safer and more accepted in their community (GLSEN, 2019). Similar patterns have been found for Black LGBTQ+ youth (GLSEN, 2020); further, Black LGBTQ+ youth who attend schools with LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum also felt their race or ethnicity was more supported at school (GLSEN, 2020). Similarly, Snapp et al. (2015) found that LGBTQ+ youth who attend schools which included LGBTQ+ youth in anti-harassment curricula reported lower harassment, less victimization, and felt more safe and supported in their school.

Anti-LGBTQ+ curriculum laws rely on outdated information and harmful stereotypes that not only create hostile environments for LGTBQ+ people, but also limit access to cutting-edge information intended to promote public health. These laws are problematic because they are intended to discourage minors from developing same-sex attraction, being in same-sex partnerships, or identifying as LGBTQ+ (Rosky, 2017).

Discussion points for inclusive sex-ed

Very few LGBTQ+ youth have access to inclusive sex education. A 2019 study by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) found that only 8.2% of LGBTQ+ youth had access to inclusive sex education at school. A systematic review of the literature found that LGBTQ+ youth perceive their sex education as inadequate (Pampati et al., 2020). Gay and bisexual adult men (Currin & Hubach, 2020) and trans people (Hobaica, Schofield, & Kwon, 2019) both retrospectively report a desire for more comprehensive and inclusive sex education.

LGBTQ+ youth experience more negative sexual health outcomes, which sex education seeks to mitigate. LGBTQ+ youth are more likely than their heterosexual and cisgender peers to engage in risky sexual activities such as having a younger age at first intercourse and multiple partners (Bodnar & Tornello, 2019; Institute of Medicine, 2011). As a result, LGBTQ+ youth are at increased risk for experiencing unplanned pregnancy (Herrick et al., 2010) or contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDs. LGBTQ+ youth are also at increased risk of experiencing dating and intimate partner violence (Kann, 2016).

Sex education promotes heteronormative stereotypes that exclude and marginalize LGBTQ+ youth (Bible et al., 2020; Gowen et al., 2014; Hobaica, 2017). In some instances, sex education that is not inclusive of LGBTQ+ youth's needs is associated with increased reports of sexual violence and risky sexual behaviors among LGBTQ+ youth (Hobaica, 2017) as well as increased risk of pregnancy among lesbian and bisexual women (Bodnar & Tornello, 2019).

There is broad public support for inclusive sexual education. Eisenberg et al. (2018) found that regardless of religious identity, regional demographics, or political affiliations, there is huge public support for comprehensive and inclusive sexual education. One study found that most parents (89.3%) support comprehensive sexual education (sexual education that includes both abstinence and contraception, STI education, consent, healthy relationships, etc.), with 66.6% of parents supporting sexual orientation education being taught in sexual education courses (Eisenberg et al, 2008). Another study found that among likely voters in 2018, 69% of people believed that sexual orientation education should be taught in middle schools, and that 79% believed that sexual orientation education should be taught in high schools (SIECUS, 2018). Additionally, inclusive sex education is supported by the American Medical Association, the National Education Association, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Inclusive sex education benefits all youth, including but not only LGBTQ+ youth. Research finds that schools which offer sex education that is inclusive of LGBTQ+ people subsequently have improvements in school climate, in part because youth are more likely to intervene when witnessing bullying (Baams et al., 2017; Proulx et al., 2019). LGBTQ+ youth who attend schools with inclusive sex education curriculum have lower levels of depression and suicidality (Proulx et al., 2019). And because cisgender and heterosexual youth can be targets of anti-LGBTQ+ bullying, the improvements to school environments which inclusive sex education brings are beneficial for all students (Fisher et al., 2012; McCarty-Caplan, 2013). Finally, sex education that is inclusive of LGBTQ+ people helps prevent dating and intimate partner violence, fosters the formation of healthy intimate relationships, helps prevent child sex abuse, improves social and emotional learning, and improves media literacy (Goldfarb & Lieberman, 2021).

References

Baams, L., Dubas, J., & van Aken, M. A. G. (2017). Comprehensive sexuality education as a longitudinal predictor of LGBTQ name-calling and perceived willingness to intervene in school. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(5), 931-942. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0638-z

Barcelos, C. A. (2020). Distributing Condoms and Hope: The Racialized Politics of Youth Sexual Health. The University of California Press.

Betts, D. (2021). Who gets to be a #TruvadaWhore: Promiscuity, race, and queer politics. Radical History Review, 140, 157-163. https://doi.org/10.1215/01636545-8841742

Bible, J., Kaplan, A., Lieberman, L., & Goldfarb, E. (2020). A retrospective analysis of sex education messages received by lgb youth. Journal of LGBT Youth [Online advance publication] https://doi.org/10.1080/19361653.2020.1819509

Bodnar, K., & Tornello, S. L. (2019). Does sex education help everyone?: Sex education exposure and timing as predictors of sexual health among lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual young women. Journal of Educational & Psychological Consultation, 29(1), 8-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/10474412.2018.1482219

Currin, J. M., Hubach, R. D., & Croff, J. M. (2020). Sex-ed without the stigma: What gay and bisexual men would like offered in school based sex education. Journal of Homosexuality, 67(13), 1779-1797. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2019.1616429

Eisenberg, M.E., Bernat, D.H., Bearinger, L.H., & Resnick, M.D. (2008). Support for comprehensive sexuality education: Perspectives from parents of school-age youth. Journal of Adolescent Health, 42(4). 352-359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2007.09.019

Fisher, S. K., Poirier, J. M., & Blau, G. M. (2012). Improving emotional and behavioral outcomes for LGBT youth: A guide for professionals. Paul H Brookes Publishing.

Goldfarb, E.S., & Lieberman, L.D. (2021). Three decades of research: The case for comprehensive sex education. J ournal of Adolescent Health, 68(1), 13-27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.07.036

Gowen, L. K., & Winges-Yanez, N. (2014). Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youths' perspectives of inclusive school-based sexuality education. Journal of Sex Research, 51(7), 788-800. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2013.806648

Herrick, A. L., Matthews, A. K., & Garofalo, R. (2010). Health risk behaviors in an urban sample of young women who have sex with women. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 14(1), 80-92. https://doi.org/10.1080/10894160903060440

Hobaica, S., & Kwon, P. (2017). "This is how you hetero:" Sexual minorities in heteronormative sex education. American Journal of Sexuality Education, 12(4), 423-450. https://doi.org/10.1080/15546128.2017.1399491

Hobaica, S., Schofield, K., & Kwon, P. (2019). "Here's your anatomy...Good luck": Transgender individuals in cisnormative sex education. American Journal of Sexuality Education, 14(3), 358-387. http://doi.org/10.1080/15546128.2019.1585308

Institute of Medicine. (2011). The health of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people: Building a foundation for better understanding. Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press.

Kann, L., Olsen, E. O., & McManus, T., et al. (2016) Sexual identity, sex of sexual contacts, and health-related behaviors among students in grades 9-12 - United States and selected sites, 2015. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Surveillance Summaries, 65(9), 1-202.

McCarty-Caplan, D. M. (2013). Schools, sex education, and support for sexual minorities: Exploring historic marginalization and future potential. American Journal of Sexuality Education, 8(4), 245-272. https://doi.org/10.1080/15546128.2013.849563

Pampati, S., Johns, M. M., Szucs, L. E., Bishop, M. D., Mallory, A. B., Barrios, L. C., & Russell, S. T. (2020). Sexual and gender minority youth and sexual health education: A systematic mapping review of the literature. Journal of Adolescent Health, 68(6), 1040-1052. [Advance online publication]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.09.032

Proulx, C. N., Coulter, R. W. S., Egan, J. E., Matthews, D. D., & Mair, C. (2019). Associations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning-inclusive sex education with mental health outcomes and school-based victimization in U.S. high school students. Journal of Adolescent Health, 64(5), 608-614. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2018.11.012

Rosky, C. J. (2017). Anti-gay curriculum laws. Columbia Law Review, 117(6). https://columbialawreview.org/content/anti-gay-curriculum-laws/

Snapp, S. D., McGuire, J. K., Sinclair, K. Q., Gabrion, K., & Russell, S. T. (2015). LGBTQ-inclusive curricula: Why supportive curricula matter. Sex Education, 15(6), 580-596. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2015.1042573

Resources

America's Censored Classrooms: PEN America tracks state legislative efforts to restrict teaching about topics such as race, gender, American history, and LGBTQ+ identities in K-12 and higher education.
PEN America, August 2022

Psychologist Natasha L. Poulopoulos, PhD, advocates against the 2022 Florida "Don't Say Gay" legislation in print and broadcast news:
-The Deleterious Impact of Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' Bill
-So-Called 'Don't Say Gay Bill' Scheduled To Go Before Florida House Judiciary Committee

LGBTQ+ visibility in the K-12 curriculum
Phi Delta Kappan
Journal for professional educators

GLSEN 2019 School Climate Survey (executive summary) (PDF, 2.50MB)

Erasure and Resilience: The Experiences of LGBTQ Students of Color, Black LGBTQ Youth in U.S. Schools (PDF, 2.02MB)
GLSEN & the National Black Justice Coalition, 2020

On Our Side: Public Support for Sex Education (PDF, 187KB)
Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS)

LGBT-Inclusive Sex Education Means Healthier Youth and Safer Schools
Comprehensive sex education is critical to young people's sexual health and benefits all students, including LGBT youth.
Center for American Progress, June 2013

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Inclusive school curriculum standards legislation includes laws that require the inclusion not only of LGBTQ+ people, history, and culture, but also Black, Native, and Indigenous people and people with disabilities.