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How Do We Make Math Class More Inclusive of Trans and Non-binary Identities

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How Do We Make Math Class More Inclusive of Trans and Non-binary Identities

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For some folks, there were specific classrooms from their K-12 experience that made them feel welcome, safe, and confident in their ability to succeed. Perhaps the content matter was special because it aligned with their specific goals or talents, or a teacher was especially inspirational.

Students are more successful in classes when the content is tied to their lives. GLSEN research shows that LGBTQ students in schools with an LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum were less likely to miss school in the last month due to feeling unsafe or uncomfortable, and were less likely to say they might not graduate high school. Moreover, LGBTQ high school seniors were more likely to be interested in studying STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math) in college if their relevant high school classes had included positive LGBTQ content.

Mathematics teachers have a unique role to play in the lives of their students, because understanding algebraic concepts and statistics has become a central focus for creating productive adults, and researchers have determined that LGB high school students are less likely to complete Algebra II than their non-LGB classmates.

Mathematics educators play an important part in reversing this trend by creating inclusive environments for LGBTQ students and trans and non-binary students in particular. Unfortunately, GLSEN research shows mathematics teachers are the least likely to teach an LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum, but there are many ways for math teachers to include LGBTQ content in class.

An example from Algebra II could be a linear programming problem constructed with the goal of finding the cheapest possible way to attend prom. The problem could include the cost of tickets per person, tuxedo rental, dresses, dinner, and a limo ride, and be explicit about including LGBTQ couples in any formal attire they choose. The teacher might also include the average cost of dinner by collecting data from the class. Once the least expensive way to attend is determined, the class can have a discussion regarding how our society determines prices and how those prices influence the choices available for students.

Another activity could be to model the spread of the use of the singular they/them/their pronoun. By starting with a community of a given size, perhaps 25,000 people, and giving the probability that any encounter will lead to a percent of the population adopting the they/them/their pronouns as part of regular use, the students can determine how long it will take for the entire population to adopt the use. A modeling activity such as this one is easily adaptable for any level of algebra and can help reinforce the idea of rate of change in relation to the real world.

Mathematics teachers are also responsible for teaching statistics curriculum that often includes students collecting and analyzing data from surveys they themselves create. As teachers teach about data collection and relevance, they should include whether it is beneficial to include gender or biological sex, being sure to reinforce the difference between those two terms. When students are creating their own surveys, if they want to include data for biological sex, teachers need to be sure they include both intersex and other as choices, and if the students want to include data for gender, a variety of choices need to be included, such as agender, genderfluid, female, male, nonbinary, transman, transwoman, and other. These additional categories will create more work for the analyses of the data sets, give more representative results, and deepen our students' understanding of both statistical analyses and the diversity of the human population.

Mathematics educators need to be diligent about creating classrooms that are safe and welcoming learning environments for all of their students. The relationship building between teachers and students, no matter what the content, requires the acknowledgement of LGBTQ students and an affirmation of those students' lives. Mathematics teachers need to be respectful of students' names and pronouns, they need to be sure their classes do not alienate any students, and they need to support LGBTQ activities such as Day of Silence, Trans Awareness Week, and Ally Week. Mathematics educators must do a better job of including our trans and non-binary students, as the futures of those students are in their hands.
Kyle S. Whipple is a trans educator and a PhD Candidate at University of Minnesota. Want more tips on how to make your curriculum inclusive? Learn best practices for making your classroom safe and affirming for all with GLSEN's Safe Space Kit for secondary educators and Ready, Set, Respect! for elementary educators. Check out GLSEN's LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum guide.

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How Do We Make Math Class More Inclusive of Trans and Non-binary Identities

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For some folks, there were specific classrooms from their K-12 experience that made them feel welcome, safe, and confident in their ability to succeed. Perhaps the content matter was special because it aligned with their specific goals or talents, or a teacher was especially inspirational.

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How Alan Turing Laid the Foundations for AI 

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How Alan Turing Laid the Foundations for AI 

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How Alan Turing laid the foundations for AI: The Turing test explained

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The Enigma of WWII Codebreaker Alan Turing 

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The Enigma of WWII Codebreaker Alan Turing 

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The enigma of WWII codebreaker Alan Turing

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Bayard Rustin: An Unsung Hero of the Civil Rights Movement 

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Bayard Rustin: An Unsung Hero of the Civil Rights Movement 

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An unsung hero of the civil rights movement - Christina Greer

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Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin - Documentary 

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Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin - Documentary 

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You will need to make an account, but it is free!

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Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin

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This documentary illuminates the life and work of Bayard Rustin-a visionary activist who has been called "the unknown hero" of the civil rights movement.

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1940s

In the early 1940s Rustin joined the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), an organization based on peace and nonviolence. He was also an early member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). CORE was an interracial, nonviolent organization founded to combat racism. Rustin led campaigns and nonviolence workshops for both organizations. As a pacifist he opposed war and refused to fight in World War II (1939-45). Because of that he spent more than two years in jail. In 1947 Rustin and others were arrested for participating in FOR and CORE's Journey of Reconciliation, an interracial bus ride through some of the Southern states. At the time Jim Crow laws in the South tried to keep Blacks and whites separated. The Journey of Reconciliation served as a model for the 1961 Freedom Rides.

Rustin traveled to India in 1948 to study the nonviolent principles of Mahatma Gandhi. Supported by FOR, Rustin also traveled to Africa to work with West African independence movements. In 1953 he was asked to resign from FOR after he was arrested for being homosexual. At that time being homosexual was not as accepted as it is today.

1950s

Rustin became King's adviser in 1956 during the Montgomery bus boycott. Rustin introduced King to Gandhi's teachings and performed other important roles. Rustin was also involved in the founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC).

1960s

In 1962 the activist A. Philip Randolph approached Rustin about organizing a march to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. King was interested as were the major civil rights organizations in the country. Rustin and his team wrote the organizing manual. They also advertised the march throughout the country and helped to make sure that everything went smoothly. More than 200,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., for the march.

Later Years

Rustin continued to work for social justice for the rest of his life. In 1966 he became president of the A. Philip Randolph Institute, a civil rights organization in New York City. He served in that position until 1979. He also served on the board of the International Rescue Committee where he helped refugees. Rustin died in New York City on August 24, 1987.

In 2013 Rustin was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honor. The Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice was founded in 2018. The center honors the work he did as a civil rights activist.

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1940s In the early 1940s Rustin joined the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), an organization based on peace and nonviolence. He was also an early member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). CORE was an interracial, nonviolent organization founded to combat racism. Rustin led campaigns and nonviolence workshops for both organizations.

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The Pink Triangle: From Nazi Label to Symbol of Gay Pride

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The Pink Triangle: From Nazi Label to Symbol of Gay Pride

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Before the pink triangle became a worldwide symbol of gay power and pride, it was intended as a badge of shame. In Nazi Germany, a downward-pointing pink triangle was sewn onto the shirts of gay men in concentration camps-to identify and further dehumanize them. It wasn't until the 1970s that activists would reclaim the symbol as one of liberation.

Homosexuality was technically made illegal in Germany in 1871, but it was rarely enforced until the Nazi Party took power in 1933. As part of their mission to racially and culturally "purify" Germany, the Nazis arrested thousands of LGBT individuals, mostly gay men, whom they viewed as degenerate.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum estimates 100,000 gay men were arrested and between 5,000 and 15,000 were placed in concentration camps. Just as Jews were forced to identify themselves with yellow stars, gay men in concentration camps had to wear a large pink triangle. (Brown triangles were used for Romani people, red for political prisoners, green for criminals, blue for immigrants, purple for Jehovah's Witnesses and black for "asocial" people, including prostitutes and lesbians.)

Corbis/Getty Images

At the camps, gay men were treated especially harshly, by guards and fellow prisoners alike. "There was no solidarity for the homosexual prisoners; they belonged to the lowest caste," Pierre Seel, a gay Holocaust survivor, wrote in his memoir I, Pierre Seel, Deported Homosexual: A Memoir of Nazi Terror.

An estimated 65 percent of gay men in concentration camps died between 1933 and 1945. Even after World War II, both East and West Germany upheld the country's anti-gay law, and many gays remained incarcerated until the early 1970s. (The law was not officially repealed until 1994.)

The early 1970s was also when the gay rights movement began to emerge in Germany. In 1972, The Men with the Pink Triangle, the first autobiography of a gay concentration camp survivor, was published. The next year, post-war Germany's first gay rights organization, Homosexuelle Aktion Westberlin (HAW), reclaimed the pink triangle as a symbol of liberation.

"At its core, the pink triangle represented a piece of our German history that still needed to be dealt with," Peter Hedenström, one of HAW's founding members said in 2014.

Horacio Villalobos/Corbis/Getty Images

Afterwards, it began cropping up in other LGBT circles around the world. In 1986, six New York City activists created a poster with the words SILENCE = DEATH and a bright pink upward-facing triangle, meant to call attention to the AIDs crisis that was decimating populations of gay men across the country. The poster was soon adopted by the organization ACT UP and became a lasting symbol of the AIDS advocacy movement.

The triangle continues to figure prominently in imaging for various LGBT organizations and events. Since the 1990s, signs bearing a pink triangle enclosed in a green circle have been used as a symbol identifying "safe spaces" for queer people. There are pink triangle memorials in San Francisco and Sydney, which honor LGBT victims of the Holocaust. In 2018, for Pride Month, Nike released a collection of shoes featuring pink triangles.

Although the pink triangle has been reclaimed as an empowering symbol, it is ultimately a reminder to never forget the past-and to recognize the persecution LGBT people still face around the world.

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The Pink Triangle: From Nazi Label to Symbol of Gay Pride

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Before the pink triangle became a worldwide symbol of gay power and pride, it was intended as a badge of shame. In Nazi Germany, a downward-pointing pink triangle was sewn onto the shirts of gay men in concentration camps-to identify and further dehumanize them.

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BBC Teach Alan Turing: Creator of Modern Computing 

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BBC Teach Alan Turing: Creator of Modern Computing 

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The Bank of England's £50 note now features a portrait of Alan Turing, released into circulation on what would have been his birthday on 23 June 2021.

Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, said in 2021: "He (Turing) was a leading mathematician, developmental biologist, and a pioneer in the field of computer science.

"He was also gay, and was treated appallingly as a result. By placing him on our new polymer £50 banknote, we are celebrating his achievements, and the values he symbolises."

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Alan Turing: Creator of modern computing

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A timeline of the great achievements and extraordinary private life of British mathematician Alan Turing

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Unheard Voices: Stories and Lessons for Grades 6-12

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Unheard Voices: Stories and Lessons for Grades 6-12

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Kendall Bailey: Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Five years later he was a sergeant assigned to a recruiting office in Virginia and was considering becoming career military. At StoryCorps, Kendall told his friend, Don Davis, how because of Don't Ask, Don't Tell those plans changed.

David Barr: The Early Days of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic

David Barr was a young man when the first cases of AIDS were diagnosed. While many people he knew were getting sick and dying, Barr began working in the community to fight the epidemic. The work of Barr and his colleagues changed the response to AIDS in the U.S. and galvanized the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

Terry Boggis: LGBT Family Rights

Terry Boggis was one of the founding members of Center Kids, Center Families, a New York City based LGBT families program, in 1988. That same year, her son, Ned was born. Here, Boggis talks about parenthood.

James Dale: Takes on the Boy Scouts of America

In 2000, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) could refuse membership to people who

identify as gay. It was a ten-year court battle. The plaintiff in the case was James Dale, who began scouting when he was eight years old. By the time he entered Rutgers University he had achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. Here, James remembers how he ended up as a lightning rod for gay rights in the United States.

Jamison Green: Transgender Activist

Jamison Green is an activist and writer who has worked on behalf of transgender men and women for more than 20 years. Jamison transitioned from female to male in 1988. Here, he speaks with his daughter, Morgan Green, about what life was like for him as a child.

Michael Levine: The Stonewall Rebellion

Michael Levine was at a popular gay bar in New York City in June 1969 when it was surrounded by police. At the time, the vice squad routinely raided and emptied gay bars. Patrons usually complied with the police - frightened at being identified publicly. But this

particular Friday night was different because patrons at the Stonewall Inn stood their ground.Here, Michael Levine reflects with his friend, Matt Merlin, on what happened that night.

Phyllis Lyon: The Daughters of Bilitis and the Homophile Movement

Phyllis Lyon has been a gay rights activist for over fifty years. She was one of the founding members of the Daughters of Bilitis - a group named for a lesbian character in French poetry. Formed in 1955, it was the first lesbian rights group in the United States. Here,

Phyllis tells her friend, Margie Adam, about coming of age in an era when sexuality was rarely discussed.

Charles Silverstein: Declassification of Homosexuality as a Mental Illness

Between 1952 and 1973, homosexuality was classified as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association. Gay men and women across the country were subjected to a variety of treatments aimed at curing their "condition." During that era, Dr. Charles Silverstein was in graduate school training to become a psychologist. Here, he talks about his role in changing the medical

community's ideas about homosexuality.

David Wilson: Struggle for Marriage Equality

David Wilson and his partner, Rob Compton, were two of the plaintiffs in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health - the landmark state appellate court case in Massachusetts that awarded marriage equality to samesex couples in the state. Ten years before the

lawsuit, David Wilson was living with his first partner, Ronald Loso, outside of Boston, until November 29, 1994. Here, Wilson remembers that day.

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Unheard Voices: Stories and Lessons for Grades 6-12

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Five years later he was a sergeant assigned to a recruiting office in Virginia and was considering becoming career military. At StoryCorps, Kendall told his friend, Don Davis, how because of Don't Ask, Don't Tell those plans changed. David Barr was a young man when the first cases of AIDS were diagnosed.

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Overview

This lesson provides students an opportunity to experience what it's like to be labeled in a negative way, and as a result, develop empathy for those who others label, even though those labels don't fit.

Objectives

Students will describe the pitfalls of making assumptions about other people

Students will be able to identify assumptions we make in the development of groups

Students will be able to describe how we sometimes use simplistic ways of viewing others

Students will be able to reflect on times when they may have felt singled-out

Age/Experience Level
Index cards, pens
Time Part 1 - Establish a Safe Space
Start the conversation with students by letting them know that they will be discussing some sensitive topics in class today. Ask them to brainstorm a list of guidelines for the class discussion. Some examples may include confidentiality, respect, and one person speaking at a time. Write the student's responses on the board and reference them throughout the conversation.

Part 2 - Form-A-Group (10 minutes)
Directions for Form A Group:
This activity is about forming groups of people based on common interests. Start by clearing a space large enough to move around. The idea is to form different groups of people as quickly as possible when the teacher calls out a common interest. For example, if the teacher says "find people with the same color shirt as you" students would group themselves by shirt color. Ask inclusive questions quickly in order to keep everyone involved and moving.

What is your favorite color?

What is your favorite candy?

How many pets do you have?

What do you usually do right after school?

What color shoes are you wearing today?

How many people are there in your family?

What is your favorite school subject?

What is your least favorite school subject?

Part 3 - Assumptions (15 minutes)

Handout 3x5 cards and ask the students to write answers to the following questions. Make sure that they do not share their responses with others until later.

1. What wouldn't we know by just looking at you?
2. What is your favorite book?
3. What goal are you working towards?
4. What is your most positive personality trait?
5. What personal experiences do you have, if any, with discrimination?

Collect the cards, Shuffle the cards and pass them out randomly, ensuring that no one has their own card. Ask the students to find the owner of the card based on the answers.

Discussion Questions

How accurate were the assumptions you made about people you don't know very well?

Did you learn anything about your classmates that surprised you?

What are the dangers of making assumptions?

What is a stereotype?

How can assumptions about groups lead to stereotypes?

What can we do to prevent stereotyping?

Part 4 - Small Group Discussion (10 minutes)
Divide the students up into different groups by counting off 1 through 5.
Once everyone is seated with a new group, pose the following questions and ask students to engage in a small-group discussion in which each student has the chance to share an experience with the group:

Can you remember a time when you were called a name or put down for being different from others around you?

How did it feel?

What did you do?

Can you remember a time when you called someone a name because they were different?

How do you think it made them feel?

Give groups approximately 1.5 minute per group member to share their experiences.

Part 5 - Large Group Discussion (15 minutes)

Draw the class together and ask students to share any connections they see between the various stories their classmates told. Record the similarities that come up on the board for students to refer to in the next portion of the lesson.

Challenge students to use the experiences they just shared about their individual experiences with being called names for being different, and the similarities they found among their stories to generate a group discussion. Let students know they will be discussing their experiences and as a group, developing simple ways to stay SAFE when name-calling or bullying occurs. Ask students to be honest when expressing their feelings and experiences with name-calling and bullying, and to show respect to other students.

Ask the students to share their experiences with the larger group. Lead the students in a discussion using the following questions:

How did it feel to be called a name or put down for being different?

Did you know how to end the situation?

What was it like working in groups today with people that were both similar to and different from you?

How do our differences help us do good work?

What can you do when you are being called names or bullied?

Let students come up with their own ideas before presenting them with the SAFE guidelines. Provide the students with the No Name-Calling Week Pledge and the Staying SAFE Guidelines.

Ask the students to sign the pledge, agreeing to end name-calling and bullying. Review the Staying SAFE handout with the students.

If you are being called names or bullied, remember the four ways to stay SAFE:
Say What you Feel: Tell the person who is bullying you or calling you names the way their actions make you feel.
a teacher or other school staff member to talk to. Ask for Help: Sometimes you can't handle the situation yourself, and it's ok to ask for help. Find
and the person calling you names might think twice before picking on you when you're with your friends. Find a Friend: Hanging out with people who make you feel good about yourself is important,
away from someone who is picking on you is the best way to end things. E xit the Area: While it may feel like you aren't doing anything at all, sometimes walking

Opportunities for Differentiation

For younger students or students that need extra assistance give them the "assumption" questions beforehand so they can write their answers before coming to class. Begin by reviewing SAFE to set up a foundation for the students to know what they can do in a situation of bullying or name-calling. Additionally, small group work can be done in pairs and the large group discussion can be done or previewed in small groups. Older groups or students that need a challenge can brainstorm a moment where they would implement the SAFE strategy in the small group discussion, and demonstrate SAFE or create a scenario for the class that puts this idea into practice.

Other Lessons to Explore: Learning Empowerment and Self-Identification, Challenging Assumptions, Beauty is Skin Deep, Creating an Anti-Slur Policy

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Overview This lesson provides students an opportunity to experience what it's like to be labeled in a negative way, and as a result, develop empathy for those who others label, even though those labels don't fit.

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History in Five: Sally Ride, America's First Woman in Space

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History in Five: Sally Ride, America's First Woman in Space

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History in Five: Sally Ride, America's First Woman in Space

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BEST PRACTICE: Inclusive and Affirming Curriculum for All Students

One way that educators can promote safer school environments is by developing lessons that avoid bias and that include positive representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people, history, and events. For LGBTQ students, attending a school with an inclusive curriculum is related to less-hostile school experiences and increased feelings of connectedness to the school community. Inclusive curriculum benefits all students by promoting diversity and teaching them about the myriad of identities in their communities.

THEORY: Curriculum as Window and Mirror

Curriculum can serve as a mirror when it reflects individuals and their experiences back to themselves. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in books. At the same time curriculum can serve as a window when it introduces and provides the opportunity to understand the experiences and perspectives of those who possess different identities. These windows can offer views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. Applied to LGBTQ-inclusive curricular content, these mirrors and windows can help create a more positive environment and healthy self-concept for LGBTQ students while also raising the awareness of all students. Inclusive curriculum supports students' abilities to empathize, connect, and collaborate with a diverse group of peers, skills that are of increasing importance in our multicultural, global society.

CONSIDERATION: Ensuring Coherent Curriculum

At times, educators' efforts to be inclusive and supportive can lead to curricular "fragmentation," or "isolation." This occurs when topics are taught without context and/or are positioned in such a way that they fail to connect to the big ideas of the topic being studied, such as when LGBTQ themes are only introduced during LGBTQ History Month (October) or LGBTQ Pride Month (June). Additional fragmentation occurs when educators include only lesbians or gay men to the exclusion of bisexual and transgender people, or when lessons fail to represent ethnic, racial and other forms of diversity that exist among LGBTQ individuals.

CLASSROOM AND SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT: Responding to Anti-LGBTQ Language and Behavior

LGBTQ-Inclusive lessons and discussions are best introduced in a supportive school environment. Introducing school-wide days of action and visibility, such as GLSEN's Ally Week (September), No Name-Calling Week (January), and the Day of Silence (April) are great ways to shift school culture to be more affirming of LGBTQ people. Additionally, ensuring that you, as educators, can also create a safer classroom environment by interrupting anti-LGBTQ remarks or comments is critical to the success of teaching LGBTQ-inclusive lessons and discussions.

Follow these steps when you witness anti-LGBTQ name-calling, bullying or harassment.

Address Name-Calling, Bullying or Harassment Immediately. Concentrate on stopping the behavior in that moment. Sometimes it's a simple response to hearing a derogatory term like, "That language is unacceptable in this classroom." Remember: no action is an action.

Name the Behavior. Describe what you saw and label the behavior. "That word is derogatory and is considered name-calling. That language is unacceptable."

Use the Teachable Moment (or Create One). Make sure to educate after stopping the behavior. Decide if you are going to educate in the moment or later, and if it will be publicly or privately. If you decide to educate later you will need to create the teachable moment. You can then take this opportunity to teach one class, the entire grade or the whole school about language and behaviors that are acceptable and those that are not.

Support the Targeted Student. Support the student who has been the target of the name-calling, bullying or harassment. Do not make assumptions about what the student is experiencing. Ask the student what they need or want. You will have to decide whether to do this in the moment or later, and if it will be publicly or privately.

Hold Students Accountable. Check school policy and impose appropriate consequences. Make sure disciplinary actions are evenly applied across all types of name-calling, bullying and harassment.

For more information and support refer to GLSEN's Safe Space Kit at www.glsen.org/safespace.

ADVOCACY: Addressing Questions and Pushback

When introducing LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum, it is best to do so as a school, led by the administrators and school leaders. We recommend this decision be communicated through LGBTQ-specific professional development for educators, 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 about this inclusion. If your state, city, or district has a policy mandating inclusive curriculum, you can use this language in your rationale.

The following talking points can support this advocacy:

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

Anti-LGBTQ bias hurts all children, both those directly affected and those who learn in an atmosphere of fear and tension, afraid to explore their own lives because of worry about disapproval and rejection.

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.

Students of all ages must be given an opportunity to learn that the words "gay," "lesbian," and "transgender" are adjectives that should be used with respect to describe people in their community, not words used in a negative way to hurt, insult, and degrade.

Inclusive curriculum 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 see themselves in their curriculum, including students who identify as LGBTQ and come from LGBTQ-headed families.

Teaching LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum 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.

LGBTQ students with inclusive curriculum have better academic and mental health outcomes, and are less likely to miss school (GLSEN's National School Climate Survey).

Supportive administrators can support this work by addressing families directly. They should be open to hearing their questions, and be careful to distinguish questions or concerns from negative pushback. Inviting families to a panel, coffee, or film screening to discuss diversity initiatives has helped many schools to invite families into this work, to address questions directly, and to identify which families in the school community are allies in this work as well.

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.

PLANNING: Finding Opportunities for LGBTQ Visibility and Inclusion

Educators should spend time identifying the extent to which LGBTQ-related content is present in their current curriculum. Care should be taken to fill gaps while looking for opportunities to deepen student understanding of their world and identities. LGBTQ people, history, and events can be easily inserted into most content areas. Teaching about identity at any age is valuable for students, and can be considered part of social emotional learning (SEL). Curriculum should provide students with opportunities to reflect on their own identities, including gender identity and expression, family diversity including LGBTQ-headed families, and the types of relationships they may want to build.

Social Emotional Learning (SEL): Suggested LGBTQ-Inclusive Learning Opportunities

Early Elementary: Ensure that family studies show examples and use language that includes a variety of family structures including LGBTQ-headed families. Address identity and reflections around gender stereotypes using Ready, Set, Respect!, inclusive read-alouds, and GLSEN's lesson I Am Me: Talking About Identity.

Upper Elementary: GLSEN's Identity Flowers lesson encourages students to explore their own identities and personal experiences with race, culture, ability, family structure, religion or spirituality, and gender identity and expression. Find more lessons for elementary students in our No Name-Calling Week program at www.glsen.org/nncw.

Middle School: GLSEN's Challenging Assumptions lesson provides students an opportunity to experience what it's like to be labeled in a negative way, and as a result, develop empathy for those who others label, even though those labels don't fit.

High School: GLSEN's Learning Empowerment and Self-Identification encourages students to explore how self-identification can be empowering, and have discussions about what it means to be proud of the labels and identities that we all hold. They will also explore the damage that can be done when someone applies labels to another person without that person's permission (consent).
Science & Sexual Health Education
when teaching science it can quickly get very binary (sperm/egg, male/female, XX/XY)

the most important thing is to dismantle this polarizing way of thinking and giving ample examples of ways that nature is not binary. science class can be a place where a very complex world can be, incorrectly, summarized in binaries.

Elementary - In science, elementary students can explore informational texts about animals that highlight their diversity in gender and family structure. Health educators can use these Principles of Gender-Inclusive Puberty and Health Education for more information and best practices.

Grades 6-8 - Educators are mindful of vocabulary and use visuals such as GLSEN's Gender Triangle to distinguish between gender identity, gender expression, and bodies. Educators teach about biology and the human bodies in ways that does not reinforce gender binaries, and includes intersex people. For example, when having conversations involving chromosomes, highlight how not all people born with XX chromosomes identify as women to distinguish between sex, gender, and gender identity. LGBTQ identities are present when discussing healthy relationships, boundaries, and consent.

High School - From learning about meiosis to talking about natural selection, students learn about sex, gender, and gender identity using a diverse represenation. Educators can acknowledge how western culture traditionally views reproduction (between cisgender men and a women) and how many stories are different from that "traditional view." Include the identity and history of scientific figures in relevant lessons, such as Alan Turing in biology lesson or Sally Ride in a physics lesson around velocity and trajectory. Sexual health educators check in with students to answer questions and ensure that they are receiving information and is relevant to them. Word problems in Chemistry and physics can be another opportunity to highlight LGBTQ people, families, and relationships.
For more information, videos, and resources go to www.glsen.org/health and read our blog: Common Core State Standards for ELA and Literacy Elementary Inclusion: 6 Ways I Make My Science Class LGBTQ-Inclusive as a Trans Teacher.
COMMON CORE: Connecting Curriculum to Standards
Writing Core Standard for Grades 6-12
Implementation of the Common Core State Standards is one way that many states and school districts are making efforts to ensure a quality education for all students. The examples below demonstrate how an examination of the standards and themes can lead to locating opportunities for the natural inclusion of LGBTQ-related content in English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects, and Mathematics.

GLSEN's Ready, Set, Respect! - GLSEN's elementary toolkit has common-core aligned lessons that focus on name-calling, bullying and bias, LGBTQ-inclusive family diversity and gender roles and diversity.
Writing Core Standard for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects 9-12
Reading the Rainbow: LGBTQ Inclusive Literacy in the Elementary Classroom - This book offers comprehensive resources, curriculum development, resource materials, and a pathway between existing literature and current LGBTQ resources.

Pronouns: Little Words that Make a Big Difference - In this lesson, students will learn about pronouns, how they are used, and their importance. They will learn that pronouns are connected to people's gender identity, and that everyone gets to choose which pronouns work for them. Students will practice using gender neutral pronouns, such as they/them/ theirs, by writing about Hadhir the hamster (they/them).
ELA Standard: Reading and Literature for Grades 9-10
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.

Suggested LGBTQ-Inclusive Learning Opportunity: GLSEN's LGBTQ History Timeline Lesson facilitates a much needed discussion about the erasure of LGBTQ history in what is considered American history, and the value of critical thinking in history classes. After examining the LGBTQ visibility (or invisibility) in their current history curriculum or textbooks, students proactively create newspaper articles to highlight the stories of LGBTQ leaders and bring them into the classroom.
Common Core State Standards for History/Social Studies
Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating, understanding of the subject under investigation.

Suggested LGBTQ-Inclusive Learning Opportunity: Students use GLSEN's National School Climate Survey or Local School Climate Survey to examine LGBTQ student experiences at school. They can also use resources from GLSEN's No Name-Calling Week to examine school climate, bullying and harassment at school.

Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

Suggested LGBTQ-Inclusive Learning Opportunity: Students read Simon vs. the Homosapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli and watch the movie Love, Simon. Use GLSEN's Love, Simon: Coming Out and Invisible Identities to conduct a character study of the main characters.

Elementary - Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts in a text, using language that pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.

Suggested LGBTQ-Inclusive Learning Opportunity: Students learn about critical events in LGBTQ History through the living timline and resources at www.glsen.org/lgbtqhistory. Students explore read-aloud books such as Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag by Rob Sanders (Grades 1-3) or The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets by Gayle E. Pitman (Grades 4-6).
Common Core State Standards for Mathematics
Grades 6-8 - Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.

Suggested LGBTQ-Inclusive Learning Opportunity: Students listen to and read the primary sources of individuals who bore witness to or helped shape LGBTQ history in our country through GLSEN's Unheard Voices, developed in partnership with ADL and StoryCorps. Students research additional textual evidence to support and provide more context to these stories.
Grade 7 - Statistics and Probability 7.SP
High School - Evaluate authors' differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors' claims, reasoning, and evidence.

Suggested LGBTQ-Inclusive Learning Opportunity: Students chose a historic event related to an LGBTQ leader from GLSEN's LGBTQ History Flash Cards. Students research the event through multiple sources with differing points of view to present their own assessment. Find more activities at www.glsen.org/historycards

Elementary - Use multiplication and division within 100 to solve word problems in situations involving equal groups, arrays, and measurement quantities

Suggested LGBTQ-Inclusive Learning Opportunity: Ensure that word problems are inclusive, and use this opportunity to highlight diversity in names, gender, and family structure. For example, "Anqelique and her moms bought fifteen apples from the market." or "Miguel and their dads love to draw with chalk." Consider the activities that are highlighted and use this as an opportunity to explore a range of gender expression and activities. Encourage students to write story problems with characters who break gender stereotypes, and have their peers solve them.
For more ideas and best practices, read GLSEN's blog How Do We Make Math Class More Inclusive of Trans and Non-Binary Identities?
Use random sampling to draw inferences about a population. Understand that statistics can be used to gain information about a population by examining a sample of the population; generalizations about a population from a sample are valid only if the sample is representative of that population.

Suggested LGBTQ-Inclusive Learning Opportunity: Share statistics or informational posters from GLSEN's National School Climate Survey with students to demonstrate population samples as they relate to the experiences of LGBTQ students. If available, use a State Snapshot of this survey results to allow students to explore the experiences of LGBTQ youth in their state. Students can also use GLSEN's Local School Climate Survey tool to collect their own sampling and draw inferences from the results.

High School - Statistics and Probability Interpreting Categorical and Quantitative Data Summarize, represent, and interpret data on a single count or measurement variable. Summarize, represent, and interpret data on two categorical and quantitative variables

Suggested LGBTQ-Inclusive Learning Opportunity: Assign students to analyze LGBTQ demographic trends as reflected in GLSEN's National School Climate Survey executive summary, graphics or informational posters. Assign small groups to create a chart or graph illustrating national trends based on one of the areas covered, such as GSAs, inclusive curriculum, policies, etc.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Inclusive Curriculum Lessons - All of GLSEN's resources and lesson plans for inclusive curriculum can be found at www.glsen.org/curriculum

Changing the Game - Resources for PE teachers, coaches, and athletic directors can be found at www.glsen.org/sports.

Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) Resources - Find more activities and discussion topics at www.glsen.org/gsa

No Name-Calling Week - for lessons on addressing name-calling and bullying go to www.glsen.org/nncw.

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BEST PRACTICE: Inclusive and Affirming Curriculum for All Students One way that educators can promote safer school environments is by developing lessons that avoid bias and that include positive representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people, history, and events.

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GLSEN currently offers its Intentional Inclusion Professional Development Series to schools, districts, and other youth-serving agencies and organizations.

The GLSEN Intentional Inclusion PD Series is intersectionality forward with an emphasis on advancing racial, gender and disability justice.

"This has been one of the most meaningful PDs I have attended in a long time. I wish everyone in my district had to attend."
- PD Participant in September 2022

Covered topics include:

Identifying exclusion grounded in racism, ableism, transphobia, and other systems of oppression

Gender identity/expression, pronouns, and gender inclusive language

Leading conversations with young people and adults about inclusion

Students' and educators' legal rights, on the basis of race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, and more

Differentiated, role-specific best-practices and resources for school staff, including:

Sample LGBTQ+ affirming lesson plans

Grade-aligned, LGBTQ+ and BIPOC affirming book lists for teachers and school librarians

Model school policies for student records, dress codes, bathroom/locker room access and sports participation

Resources for supporting student-led GSA clubs

GLSEN Facilitators

GLSEN facilitators have all gone through a rigorous preparation process and have a range of 5 to 30 years of experience in education and youth programming work. Organizations/schools/districts that partner with GLSEN for PD will have a virtual Pre-PD meeting with their facilitators approximately 2 weeks prior to their first PD date.

Funding for GLSEN PD

Various state and federal funding streams can be used to bring GLSEN PD to your school/district/organization. These include Title II-A, Title IV-A, and ESSER funds.

Process for Requesting GLSEN PD

Once you fill out the form at the below link, you will be invited to schedule a PD intake call with a GLSEN teammate. On that call, we'll hear more about your school/organization/district's specific needs, answer your questions about our training, and discuss pricing. Given demand for GLSEN PD, we recommend completing the GLSEN PD Request form as far in advance of your target PD date as possible.

"Great resources and excellent dialogue. Definitely keeping the participant guides--they're awesome! It will give me a solid framework for supporting staff, students, and families."
- PD Participant in June 2023

"The opportunity to explore so many resources and learn how to use new tools for analysis was wonderful. These topics are so large that it's easy to go down a rabbit hole online; having tested and validated resources to use makes a huge difference."
- PD Participant in June 2023

"I enjoyed the data that was shared about [my] state and LGBTQ+ youth. The terminology shared and what gender inclusive practices means gave me a lot to think about."
- PD Participant in June 2023

"I loved having the time to deep dive into the materials and apply to MY own work."
- PD Participant in June 2023

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The GLSEN Intentional Inclusion PD Series is intersectionality forward with an emphasis on advancing racial, gender and disability justice. "This has been one of the most meaningful PDs I have attended in a long time. I wish everyone in my district had to attend."

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The Lavender Scare: Gay and Lesbian Life in Post-World War II America

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The Lavender Scare: Gay and Lesbian Life in Post-World War II America

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The Lavender Scare: Gay and Lesbian Life in Post-WWII America

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Learn about the attempts to purge the US military and federal government of gay and lesbian employees during the Cold War and decades later.

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Students learn about two millennia of LGBTQ history and reflect on how that history is represented in their textbooks and curricula.

Democracy & Civic Engagement

Using the strategies from Facing History is almost like an awakening.

- Claudia Bautista, Santa Monica, Calif

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Students learn about two millennia of LGBTQ history and reflect on how that history is represented in their textbooks and curricula. Democracy & Civic Engagement Using the strategies from Facing History is almost like an awakening. - Claudia Bautista, Santa Monica, Calif

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The following 58 titles were under consideration by the Rainbow List Committee during the month of October:

America, vol 1: The Life and Times of America Chavez by Gabby Rivera

America, vol 2: Fast and Fuertona by Gabby Rivera

La Bastarda by Trifonia Melibia Obono

Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp

Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore

Burro Hills by Julia Lynn Rubin

Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

Dark Beneath the Ice by Amelinda Bérubé

DeadEndia: The Watcher's Test (Book 1) by Hamish Steele

Dead Weight by Terry Blas & Molly Muldoon

Furyborn by Claire Legrand

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Goldie Vance vol. 3 by Hope Larson

Goldie Vance vol. 4 by Hope Larson

The Handsome Girl and Beautiful Boy by B.T. Gottfried

Heart Foreger by Rin Chupeco

Heavy Vinyl by Carly Usdin

Here to Stay by Sara Farizan

Hocus Pocus and the All New Sequel by A.W. Jantha

I Felt a Funeral in My Brain by Will Walton

Inkmistress by Audrey Coulthurst

Jack of Hearts and Other Parts by L.C. Rosen

Jaya and Rasa: A Love Story by Sonia Patel

The Ladies Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee

The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls by Jessica Spotswood

Like Vanessa by Tami Charles

A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo

Love & Other Carnivorous Plants by Florence Gonsalves

Luisa - Now and Then by Carole Maurel and Mariko Tamaki

Lumberjanes Bonus Tracks by Holly Black

Mariam Sharma Hits the Road by Sheba Karim

Modern HERstory: Stories of women and nonbinary people writing history by Blair Imani

My Life as a Diamond by Jenny Manzer

Nate Expectations by Blair Imani

Odd One Out by Nic Stone

P.S. I Miss You by Jen Petro-Roy

People Like Us by Dana Mele

Pride Guide: A guide to Sexual and Social Health for LGBTQ Youth by Jo Langford

Pros of Cons by Alison Cherry, Lindsay Ribar and Michelle Schusterman

Prom to Remember by Sandy Hall

Pulp by Robin Talley

Quiver by Julia Watts

Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh

The Rules and Regulations of Mediating Myths and Magic by F.T. Lukens

Runaways Vol. 1 Find Your Way Home by Rainbow Rowell

Runaways Vol 2 Best Friends Forever by Rainbow Rowell

Secret Loves of Geeks ed. by Hope Hicholson

Starless by Jacqueline Carey

Summer of Us by Cecilia Vinesse

SuperMoon by H.A. Swain

That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E. K. Johnston

They She He Me: Free To Be by Maya + Matthew

This is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender

Tiger's Watch by Julia Ember

Top Ten by Katie Cotugno

Trans Teen Survival Guide by Fox and Owl Fisher

What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera

When Lights Left us by Leah Thomas

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The following 58 titles were under consideration by the Rainbow List Committee during the month of October: America, vol 1: The Life and Times of America Chavez by Gabby Rivera America, vol 2: Fast and Fuertona by Gabby Rivera La Bastarda by Trifonia Melibia Obono Before I Let Go by

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An Updated Graphic Guide to LGBTQ YA Literature for Pride Month

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An Updated Graphic Guide to LGBTQ YA Literature for Pride Month

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Nearly two years ago, I made this graphic guide to LGBTQ titles in order to give an overview of the variety of YA literature that features queer characters, from coming out stories to sci-fi adventures. Campaigns like We Need Diverse Books have brought even more attention to the need for diversity in children's publishing, as well as called for more books that feature characters with intersecting identities.

I'm happy to say all of this means that the graphic was in need of an update. There have been lots of new titles published, and I wanted to make it more comprehensive (though by all means, still not exhaustive).

These books aren't necessarily right for every reader, and don't constitute the best, or the only, LGBTQIA+ fiction for young adults available. But it is a good starting off point for those interested in exploring the way these identities are portrayed in YA fiction. In some, the LGBTQ characters are the narrators, and in others, they are more supporting characters.

I've tried to include a variety in each category, and also to best situate a book in a genre (though, because of blurring and mixing of genres, some are of course debatable). Again, these are meant to be a broad sample, rather than a definitive list.

For further resources on LGBTQIA+ or QUILTBAG fiction (whichever acronym you prefer), check out the following websites and booklists:

Malinda Lo's blog

Diversity in YA

Lee Wind's blog

Trans* Titles for Young Adults, compiled by Talya Sokoll in the Summer 2013 edition of YALS

ALA's Stonewall Book Award, honoring the best in LGBTQ fiction

The 1997 Popular Paperbacks list "Gay/Lesbian Tales", for older titles

The 2014 Popular Paperbacks Nominees for "GLBTQ: Books with Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer-questioning, Intersexed, Asexual individuals, and Their Allies"

The ALA's GLBT Roundtable's Rainbow Books Lists

Please share your favorite titles or comments below!

- Molly Wetta, currently reading Wake by Lisa McMann

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An Updated Graphic Guide to LGBTQ YA Literature for Pride Month - The Hub

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Nearly two years ago, I made this graphic guide to LGBTQ titles in order to give an overview of the variety of YA literature that features queer characters, from coming out stories to sci-fi adventures.

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Exploring Kehinde Wiley's Art With Kids 

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Exploring Kehinde Wiley's Art With Kids 

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During the past few months, many of us have isolated ourselves due to the coronavirus - working remotely and engaging with friends and family through Zoom instead of in-person visits. As a result, we have felt our worlds shrink. With so much art and literature accessible online, though, opportunities still exist for children and caregivers alike to learn, find inspiration and express themselves creatively.

A group of Winooski Middle School students did just that during my recent summer art class online, called "The Portrait Studio." Students convened over Zoom for this virtual learning experience, which centered on the artwork of Kehinde (pronounced keh-HIN-day) Wiley - one of America's most prominent contemporary portrait artists. Wiley is best known for his larger-than-life paintings celebrating Black and brown bodies and personalities within the context of the Western art world, which has historically underrepresented, demeaned or entirely excluded people of color.

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Most historic portraits in the Western art tradition feature white, male aristocrats and have either omitted people of color or relegated them to the shadows and peripheries, often in servile positions. Sadly, these historic artworks reflect an accurate and systematic marginalization and oppression of people of color in our society. Wiley - himself a queer African American man - seeks to critique and counteract this oppressive history by centering and celebrating Black and brown beauty and strength in his large-scale portraits.

Wiley grounds elements of his portraits in the trappings of traditional European portraiture - a subject in a powerful stance making eye contact with the viewer; an ornate floral motif in the background; a sense of opulence - but centers Black, Latinx and Indigenous individuals and families dressed in their preferred styles of clothing. He often infuses his color palettes with vivid or neon colors. In doing this, Wiley subverts tradition and critiques the historic marginalization of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) individuals in art history, and in society as a whole.

While Wiley has painted well-known political and pop-culture figures - including president Barack Obama, the Notorious B.I.G., Salt-N-Pepa and Spike Lee - the majority of his portrait subjects are "everyday" individuals he has encountered on the streets of cities, towns and villages around the globe, from Harlem to Mumbai, Senegal to Rio de Janeiro.

In my virtual Portrait Studio class, students met on Zoom to study and discuss the work of Wiley, as well as the history and ideals in which his art is grounded. Each student then created their own large-scale portrait inspired by Wiley's artwork, featuring a BIPOC individual - whether themselves, a friend or a celebrity they admire.

Fourteen-year-old Sherihan Abdulaziz shared her thoughts on the importance of including individuals of all races and cultures in art "so that people of all colors feel included and welcome."

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Nadine Ikizakubuntu, also 14, commented on the how seeing oneself represented or reflected in art "can help people to feel seen and loved and important." Nadine's Wiley-inspired portrait, titled "Different Flowers From the Same Garden," depicts herself in a favorite outfit, holding in her arms the baby sister of a close friend.

The visual arts can be an effective and inspiring conduit not only for self-expression but for expanding one's worldview and better understanding experiences beyond our own. Having taught visual arts to students ranging from ages 4 to 14 for nearly a decade, I have seen that even very young children are able to find inspiration in art that reflects experiences outside of their own; empathize with the sentiments that art conveys; and reinterpret an advanced artistic style in their own unique way.

Learn More

Gather Your Materials

While my summer art students primarily used colored pencils for this project, crayons or markers would also work well. Choose a medium that will allow your child to draw their subject's facial features in some detail. Watercolor paint can make filling in the background spaces much faster.

Make sure you have appropriate colors to be able to accommodate a wide range of skin tones.

If you're looking for an alternative to drawing, you and your child can create your own Wiley-inspired portraits through the art of collage, by cutting figures out of magazines or newspapers and gluing them onto your own drawn floral backgrounds or patterned art paper.

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click to enlarge During the past few months, many of us have isolated ourselves due to the coronavirus - working remotely and engaging with friends and family through Zoom instead of in-person visits. As a result, we have felt our worlds shrink.

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In this painting, Kehinde Wiley boldly recasts Napoleon as a contemporary black warrior. In his reference to Jacques-Louis David's painting Napoleon Bonaparte Crossing the Alps at Great St. Bernard Pass, Wiley creates a tension with traditional art history and its neglect of black subjects. His portrait symbolically reassigns value to the sitter, asking us to recall remarkable black leaders such as Toussaint L'Ouverture from Haiti, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela, whose images appear far less frequently, if at all, in histories of art.

-Tumelo Mosaka, independent curator

Kehinde Wiley's series of reclining figures offers some of his most eroticized images. In many ways, this is a result of the tradition on which he has drawn. In those older works, the recumbent and vulnerable body was often used as a vehicle for the sensual. Take Femme piquée par un serpent, which refers to the scandal-inciting 1847 sculpture by Auguste Clésinger of a woman supposedly dying from a poisonous snakebite. The sculpture was highly praised for its sensual naturalism, but many viewers and critics wondered whether her voluptuous writhing was, in fact, evidence of her death.

Wiley adapted the famously contorted torso of Clésinger's female nude to show both the rear and front of his model: the viewer is confronted with both the alluring expanse of the white underwear and, at the same time, the searching face with open eyes and mouth. But the titanic recumbent figures in this series both incite and scoff at attempts to reduce them to mere erotic objects, and the vulnerability of their sources has been transmuted into confidence by a scale that is nothing less than heroic. -David J. Getsy, Goldabelle McComb Finn Distinguished Professor of Art History, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Though Kehinde Wiley is best known for his painted portraits, here he shifts from painting to sculpture. In both the lift and turn of the young man's head and the open V of his zippered collar, this bronze refers to an eighteenth-century marble bust by Jean-Antoine Houdon.

Yet in many other ways, Wiley's work could hardly be more different: in substituting male for female, black for white, and present for past, he upends the earlier sculpture even as he quotes it. His radical reinterpretation encourages us to examine the stereotypes that can be found in portraiture. -Rujeko Hockley, Assistant Curator, Contemporary Art, Brooklyn Museum

Consider Kehinde Wiley and the model in the studio, poring over art history books together to choose an image that will serve as the source for a new painting, in which the model will replace some long-departed exemplar of European privilege and power. The model was previously unknown to the artist, but struck him-perhaps by the strong cut of his jaw, perhaps by his leonine confidence-as a fitting candidate for the elaborate and sophisticated impersonation in which he was hired to participate.The model, who remains unnamed, is from Harlem (New York City), as was the original subject, Willem van Heythuysen, a Dutch wool merchant from Haarlem (the Netherlands), whose portrait was painted by Frans Hals in 1625. As Hals's bravura portraits defined the Golden Age of Holland, Wiley's painting-at once parody and tribute-gives image to our own age's conflicted relationship to privilege, power, and the past.

-John B. Ravenal, Executive Director, DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts

February 20-May 24, 2015

The works presented in Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic raise questions about race, gender, and the politics of representation by portraying contemporary African American men and women using the conventions of traditional European portraiture. The exhibition includes an overview of the artist's prolific fourteen-year career and features sixty paintings and sculptures.

Wiley's signature portraits of everyday men and women riff on specific paintings by Old Masters, replacing the European aristocrats depicted in those paintings with contemporary black subjects, drawing attention to the absence of African Americans from historical and cultural narratives.

The subjects in Wiley's paintings often wear sneakers, hoodies, and baseball caps, gear associated with hip-hop culture, and are set against contrasting ornate decorative backgrounds that evoke earlier eras and a range of cultures.

Through the process of "street casting," Wiley invites individuals, often strangers he encounters on the street, to sit for portraits. In this collaborative process, the model chooses a reproduction of a painting from a book and reenacts the pose of the painting's figure. By inviting the subjects to select a work of art, Wiley gives them a measure of control over the way they're portrayed.

The exhibition includes a selection of Wiley's World Stage paintings, begun in 2006, in which he takes his street casting process to other countries, widening the scope of his collaboration.

Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic is organized by Eugenie Tsai, John and Barbara Vogelstein Curator of Contemporary Art, Brooklyn Museum. A fully illustrated catalogue published by the Brooklyn Museum and DelMonico Books * Prestel accompanies the exhibition.

In this painting, Kehinde Wiley boldly recasts Napoleon as a contemporary black warrior. In his reference to Jacques-Louis David's painting Napoleon Bonaparte Crossing the Alps at Great St. Bernard Pass, Wiley creates a tension with traditional art history and its neglect of black subjects. His portrait symbolically reassigns value to the sitter, asking us to recall remarkable black leaders such as Toussaint L'Ouverture from Haiti, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela, whose images appear far less frequently, if at all, in histories of art.

-Tumelo Mosaka, independent curator

Kehinde Wiley's series of reclining figures offers some of his most eroticized images. In many ways, this is a result of the tradition on which he has drawn. In those older works, the recumbent and vulnerable body was often used as a vehicle for the sensual. Take Femme piquée par un serpent, which refers to the scandal-inciting 1847 sculpture by Auguste Clésinger of a woman supposedly dying from a poisonous snakebite. The sculpture was highly praised for its sensual naturalism, but many viewers and critics wondered whether her voluptuous writhing was, in fact, evidence of her death.

Wiley adapted the famously contorted torso of Clésinger's female nude to show both the rear and front of his model: the viewer is confronted with both the alluring expanse of the white underwear and, at the same time, the searching face with open eyes and mouth. But the titanic recumbent figures in this series both incite and scoff at attempts to reduce them to mere erotic objects, and the vulnerability of their sources has been transmuted into confidence by a scale that is nothing less than heroic. -David J. Getsy, Goldabelle McComb Finn Distinguished Professor of Art History, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Though Kehinde Wiley is best known for his painted portraits, here he shifts from painting to sculpture. In both the lift and turn of the young man's head and the open V of his zippered collar, this bronze refers to an eighteenth-century marble bust by Jean-Antoine Houdon.

Yet in many other ways, Wiley's work could hardly be more different: in substituting male for female, black for white, and present for past, he upends the earlier sculpture even as he quotes it. His radical reinterpretation encourages us to examine the stereotypes that can be found in portraiture. -Rujeko Hockley, Assistant Curator, Contemporary Art, Brooklyn Museum

Consider Kehinde Wiley and the model in the studio, poring over art history books together to choose an image that will serve as the source for a new painting, in which the model will replace some long-departed exemplar of European privilege and power. The model was previously unknown to the artist, but struck him-perhaps by the strong cut of his jaw, perhaps by his leonine confidence-as a fitting candidate for the elaborate and sophisticated impersonation in which he was hired to participate.The model, who remains unnamed, is from Harlem (New York City), as was the original subject, Willem van Heythuysen, a Dutch wool merchant from Haarlem (the Netherlands), whose portrait was painted by Frans Hals in 1625. As Hals's bravura portraits defined the Golden Age of Holland, Wiley's painting-at once parody and tribute-gives image to our own age's conflicted relationship to privilege, power, and the past.

-John B. Ravenal, Executive Director, DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, Massachusetts

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The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum is New York City's second largest in physical size and holds an art collection with roughly 1.5 million works.

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GLSEN has historically played an important role in obtaining national and state data on school climate. And we look for ways to use our expertise to assist in local data collection efforts. GLSEN's Local School Climate Survey, which previously existed as a PDF on our website, is now available in a friendly and easy-to-use online format to help you learn about your local area.

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After he left the navy, Milk moved to New York and worked at various jobs. He was a public school teacher and worked in finance. He also became more involved in politics and demonstrated against the Vietnam War. In 1972 Milk moved to San Francisco, California. He opened a camera store in a section of the city known as the Castro. He was popular in the neighborhood, and he became a leader in the gay community. A year later he ran for a position on the city's Board of Supervisors. He lost that race. He ran and lost again in 1975, but in 1977 Milk was elected as a San Francisco City-County Supervisor.

Milk worked hard to protect gay rights and to help groups who were disadvantaged. He opposed a bill that would have made it legal to fire gay teachers in California's public schools. Milk's opposition helped defeat the bill.

On November 27, 1978, Milk and George Moscone, the city's mayor, were shot and killed in City Hall by Dan White, a former city supervisor. The response to the killings was peaceful at first. However, after White was sentenced to less than eight years in prison for the two murders, riots broke out.

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After he left the navy, Milk moved to New York and worked at various jobs. He was a public school teacher and worked in finance. He also became more involved in politics and demonstrated against the Vietnam War. In 1972 Milk moved to San Francisco, California.

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"I ask for the movement to continue, for the movement to grow, because last week I got a phone call from Altoona, Pennsylvania, and my election gave somebody else, one more person, hope... You gotta give 'em hope." - Harvey Milk

What is Harvey Milk Day?
Harvey Milk Day is a day to educate your school about an extraordinary leader whose courageous work to end discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community in the 1970s set the stage for many of the civil rights advances we see today.
Who was Harvey Milk?
Harvey Milk was an activist, organizer, and the first openly gay man elected to public office in the country as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in the late 1970s. Harvey Milk came out and started organizing against discrimination of gay and lesbian business owners in the Castro District of San Francisco, and against the Briggs Initiative (this was an initiative on the California state ballot in 1978 that would have banned gays and lesbians from working in California schools). Milk was responsible for passing gay rights ordinances for the city of San Francisco and served eleven months in office before he was assassinated on November 27, 1978, along with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone. We celebrate Harvey Milk Day on his birthday, May 22.
New Resources for Teachers
The California Safe Schools Coalition, GSA Network, and Our Family Coalition have come together to create a website for educators to access curriculum about Harvey Milk.

The website features a new Harvey Milk Day curriculum suitable for teaching high school students, in addition to existing curriculum already in use in elementary schools. This includes a short educational biography of Harvey Milk, curricula organized by grade level, resources and links for Harvey Milk books and movies, and the ability for teachers to submit curricula they have developed for their own classes and others.

For more information, please visit: www.safeschoolscoalition.org/harveymilkday/

GSAs: How can you celebrate Harvey Milk Day?

See how GSAs across California celebrate Harvey Milk Day.

Inform:

Ask your school to have an announcement on the PA system about Harvey Milk Day. Include who he was, what he did, and why remembering him is important for you and your school.

Hold an assembly to celebrate Harvey Milk, and use it as a time to educate your peers about LGBT issues and the impact that Harvey Milk had on our community.

Invite speakers who can either talk about Harvey Milk's impact in the 1970s or the relevance of his work today.

Encourage your teachers to have a class discussion on Harvey Milk and the LGBT civil rights movement. In History or Social Sciences classes, you may ask to devote either a portion or an entire class to talking about past LGBT community leaders and other civil rights leaders from the 1970s.

Have an LGBT teach in, take over the cafeteria or study hall and teach about Harvey Milk and other LGBT leaders.

Consider working with other students or groups on campus to expand Harvey Milk Day into an entire "Forgotten History Week." Have discussions, show movies, or make posters about other important historical leaders who seem to have been forgotten.

Show the movies "The Times of Harvey Milk," "Castro" (which aired on PBS), or "Milk" to your GSA, in a History or Social Sciences class, or to the whole school and hold a discussion afterward. Consider screening one of these movies after school, during lunch, or making it into a weeklong series.

Mobilize:

Create a poster campaign for your school (you can use the GLBT History Month site at www.glbthistorymonth.com for more information). Make posters highlighting Harvey Milk and bring attention to other figures in the LGBT and other civil rights movements.

Make buttons, stickers, or t-shirts expressing support for Harvey Milk and the LGBT community.

Write an article for your school paper about Harvey Milk and what his story means to you.

More Tips for Planning & Having a Successful Harvey Milk Day

Before

Make a Plan: Your GSA should prepare for how exactly you want to approach the day and what you want it to consist of.

Create a Timeline: After deciding on your club's goal, you should make a timeline so that everyone knows what needs to be done. Be sure to include who is in charge of each item and when it needs to be finished.

Get More People Involved: Try to get as many people as possible aware of the event and involved in participating. You could do that by sending out e-mail announcements, advertising in the school newspaper, putting up flyers and posters, and of course by word of mouth.

Get Teachers/Administrators/Staff Involved: Find out if staff are interested in participating and schedule a meeting with your principal!

Build Coalitions/Build Bridges: Consider including other school clubs that may be interested in collaborating on the event.

Issue a Press Release: Let the local media know about what you are doing to honor Harvey Milk. Describe the events at your school, history of the event, and use some quotes from GSA members about why you are doing the event. Be sure to include a phone number for how a reporter can reach your group to follow-up for interviews.

Be Prepared! Have a meeting to discuss positive ways to handle harassment from non-participants. Be prepared to have spokespersons from your group who can speak about the event.

During

Announce the Event: Post an announcement in the daily bulletin or through the PA system at school explaining the event and requesting that all staff and students be respectful of the students participating in the project.

Coordinate Volunteers: Ask people to help setup your event. Make sure that you have enough people for setup, monitoring the event, and cleanup.

Provide Resources: Have a resource spot or staffed table where people can find info about your GSA or other LGBTQ groups and resources.

Organize Visual Displays: Organize a visual display such as having your participants wear a sticker or T-shirt, or put up posters all over campus explaining the event.

After

Continue the Education: Host a discussion about how to raise awareness about Harvey Milk and other LGBT activists every day as opposed to one day out of the year.

Evaluate the Day: Evaluate the successes of the day and discuss what improvements could be made for next year.

Additional Resources

Frequently Asked Questions about Harvey Milk Day

What is law for Harvey Milk Day?

In 2009, the State of California officially designated May 22 as "Harvey Milk Day." Education Code section 37222 now recognizes May 22 as Harvey Milk Day, and says that "public schools and educational institutions are encouraged to observe those days and to conduct suitable commemorative exercises . . . remembering the life of Harvey Milk, recognizing his accomplishments, and familiarizing pupils with the contributions he made to this state." Download a copy of the law here.
What does this mean for your school?
The law does not require your school to celebrate Harvey Milk Day, but the law should allow you (as a teacher or a student) to celebrate the day in a variety of ways.
I'm a teacher and I'd like to talk about Harvey Milk in a class:
If you teach a subject in which discussion of Harvey Milk would be appropriate (such as History or Social Sciences) or if you are teaching students in a neutral context such as homeroom, then you should be able to add in a discussion of Harvey Milk as a celebration of Harvey Milk Day.
I'm a student and I'd like to do a presentation about Harvey Milk in a class:
Your teacher will need to give you permission to do a special presentation, but you should use the law to argue that such a presentation is appropriate. If Harvey Milk fits into an assignment you already have (such as an assignment to write about an historical figure), then you must be allowed to do the assignment on Harvey Milk - including a presentation.
My GSA would like to commemorate Harvey Milk Day publicly at school - in an assembly or by showing a movie:
You should ask your school to sponsor the assembly or the movie, and you should show them the law to explain why they should sponsor. If your school refuses, you should check the rules as to how clubs can call assemblies/show movies - the school must apply the same rules to the GSA as to any other non-curricular student club.
My GSA would like to put up posters about our planned commemoration of Harvey Milk Day:
You should try to get special permission from your school to put up posters about the commemoration, showing your school the law. If your school doesn't give you special permission, it still has to let you put up posters in the same places that other non-curricular clubs can put up posters (so, if the drama club can put up posters for a play, you can put up posters for your Harvey Milk Day commemoration).
For more information:
On your free speech and other rights, look at this guide.

If your school is not letting you celebrate Harvey Milk Day, please contact GSA Network for additional assistance.
Thanks to the ACLU of Northern California for answering these questions about Harvey Milk Day

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"I ask for the movement to continue, for the movement to grow, because last week I got a phone call from Altoona, Pennsylvania, and my election gave somebody else, one more person, hope... You gotta give 'em hope." - Harvey Milk What is Harvey Milk Day?

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Notes of a Native Son: The World According to James Baldwin

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Notes of a Native Son: The World According to James Baldwin

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Notes of a native son: The world according to James Baldwin - Christina Greer

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English Language Arts - Reading-Literature, Writing, Speaking and Listening.
MCREL STANDARDS (4TH EDITION)

Behavioral Studies: Understands that group and cultural differences contribute to human development, identity, and behavior.

Thinking and Reasoning: Effectively uses mental processes that are based on identifying similarities and differences.

Language Arts: Listening and Speaking Standard 8: Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes.

OVERVIEW
Teaching young people about identity helps them to learn about their own unique identities, as well as the myriad identities in their classroom communities. In this lesson, students will read Looking Like Me, by Walter Dean Myers, and examine the descriptive words that the main character uses to describe himself (e.g., brother, son, artist, dancer, runner, and dreamer). To conclude, students will create their own "I am" poster using GLSEN's "I am" sign.

OBJECTIVES
Students will reflect on their own identity.
Students will actively listen to Looking Like Me, stopping to share describing words and identity terms for the main character.
Students will identify words, describing words, and identity terms that describe themselves.
Students will discuss the importance of respecting peoples' identity terms and descriptive words.
THINGS TO PREP & TOOLS NEEDED

Find a copy of Looking Like Me or show this online reading of the book.

Print out copies of the "I am" sign for your class.

Make an example version of the "I am" sign using yourself or a book character who is familiar to your students.

Chart paper, markers, copies of GLSEN's "I am" sign.

35 minutes.

PROCEDURE
1. (2 minutes) Opening: Begin the lesson by telling students, "Today we'll be talking about 'identity' which is a big word that has to do with who we are, and all the things that make us unique and special. There are lots of different pieces that fit together to make up our identity."

2. (10 minutes) Tell students that you will be reading a book called Looking Like Me by Walter Dean Myers. Show students the cover and ask them for any predictions they have about the story. Have chart paper and markers nearby and write "I am" at the top. Tell students that the main character of this story uses lots of different words that tell us more about his identity, or who he is inside. "Listen for words that talk about the boy, who he is and what he likes. When you hear one of these words, put your thumb up. We'll write it on this list to learn more about the boy's identity."

a. Read or play the story, pausing when the students notice describing words and other identity terms. Write these on chart paper.
b. After the story, read the list with the class and ask them to silently show that they agree with a "thumbs up" with their hands if any of these words or identity terms fit them too.

3. (10 min) Tell students, "That story used 'I am' to tell more about the boy's identity. We want to learn more about your identity. What makes you special and unique? What words tell people about you?"

a. Brainstorm describing words and identity terms with the students and write these on the board or chart paper for reference.
b. Show students your example of the "I am" sign, who the sign represents, and read the terms you used. Note: This is a great opportunity to introduce terms to represent race, culture, religion, ability, LGBTQ families, gender identity, and gender expression.
c. Tell students that they will each get a sign to tell us all more about their identities and what makes them special. Specify, depending on the students' ages and abilities, the expectations for writing words or drawing on the signs. Note: If you have created a sign as an example, show this to the students.
d. Pass out "I am" signs to students. You may want to have students write in pencil, check with a teacher, and then add color.

4. (13 minutes) Closure: Invite students to show their "I am" signs to the class, and to share a part of their identity that feels special to them.

a. Ask students, "What words or pictures did you use to show your gender identity or gender expression?" Listen out for stereotypes and address them or note them and make a plan to follow up at another time. For example, if students say, "I drew this ower in pink because I'm a girl" you can say, "That's a very detailed ower! Do all girls have to like owers and pink?" or "That's interesting! We'll talk more about that later."
b. "Which parts of your identity are you the most proud of?" "How would you feel if someone teased you for those parts of your identity, for being you?"
c. "Who should get to fill out your identity sign, you or someone else? Could I go around and write whatever words or names on your sign that I want?" Follow up with, "That's right, you know your identity, who you are, what names and words you want to be called. When you call someone a name or tease them, it's like writing on their sign."
d. "Do you think our class would be better if all of our signs or all of our identities were the same? Why or why not?"
e. To finish, tell students, "If all of our signs were the same, it'd be like using only one color to draw with all of the time. We're lucky to have so many different identities in our class! Turn to the person next to you and give them a compliment about their sign."
OPPORTUNITIES FOR DIFFERENTIATION
The individual work of creating an "I Am" sign can be modified for younger students and students with disabilities by working one-on-one with a teacher and being given stickers or pictures representing the student to place on the sign. Students who need a challenge can be asked to write a paragraph, book, or poem to accompany their "I Am" sign.
FOLLOW UP/EXTENSIONS
We have all been a bystander to bullying behavior at one time or another in our lives. A bystander is someone who witnesses an incident, but does not take part in it. Bystanders are not to blame for bullying, but if they laugh at it, ignore it, or simply do nothing, they may play a part in keeping it going. Name-calling and bullying are problems that everyone must help to solve. And there are ways that we can all get involved without putting ourselves at risk or harming our standing with peers.

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English Language Arts - Reading-Literature, Writing, Speaking and Listening. MCREL STANDARDS (4TH EDITION) Behavioral Studies: Understands that group and cultural differences contribute to human development, identity, and behavior. Thinking and Reasoning: Effectively uses mental processes that are based on identifying similarities and differences.

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The following poems from the rich tradition of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer poets and poetry are appropriate for young readers.
lesson plans for pride month more poems for kids
" I Invite My Parents to a Dinner Party" by Chen Chen
In the invitation, I tell them for the seventeenth time...
read the lesson plan

" Book of Statues" by Richie Hofmann
Because I am a boy, the untouchability of beauty...

" He would not stay for me, and who can wonder" by A. E. Housman
He would not stay for me, and who can wonder...

" The Tree Sparrows" by Joseph O. Legaspi
We suffer through blinding equatorial heat...
read the lesson plan

" syntax" by Maureen N. McLane
and if / I were to say // I love you and...

" The Cabbage Butterfly" by Minnie Bruce Pratt
The human brain wants to complete...

" Diving into the Wreck" by Adrienne Rich
First having read the book of myths...
read the lesson plan

" Poem" by James Schuyler
The wind tears up the sun...

" Detail of the Woods" by Richard Siken
I looked at all the trees and didn't know what to do...
browse more lgbtq poetry

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The following poems from the rich tradition of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer poets and poetry are appropriate for young readers. lesson plans for pride month more poems for kids "One Art" by Elizabeth BishopThe art of losing isn't hard to master...

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What Happened When I Studied a Trans Civil War Soldier for History Class

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What Happened When I Studied a Trans Civil War Soldier for History Class

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I have admired history for as long as I can remember. Ever since I could read, I've enjoyed finding the stories of people just like me, albeit five hundred years ago. I've always liked how history is less like a lens, and more like a window. You can always look through it and discover something new, about others and yourself. History is powerful in that way; it shows examples of the triumphs and failures of humanity. The past empowers the present, proving we can be successful if we try hard enough.

In seventh grade, I took my first intensive history class. Instead of general world history, I learned about this history of West Virginia. While my classmates found learning about their home state boring, I thought it was interesting to learn about the Civil War conflicts that happened in our backyard.

At the same time, as I was learning the name of every Confederate, I was learning more about myself. That year, I finally began to identify what had been bothering me. See, for as long as I had loved history, I had also been distinctly aware that something was off about the way I had been raised. The dresses my mother had me wear, and the long hair that dragged me down, bothered me deeply, and in the seventh grade, I finally realized why: I was really a boy!

During that year, I found the word "transgender" online, and I tried it out a few times to see if it fit. I would write the name I preferred, James, on my class papers, stare at it, and then erase it. I would wear my dad's hand-me-downs, rather than the tight feminine clothes my parents had bought, and it felt right. When I was finally ready to share my identity with parents, I was lucky to grow up in a very accepting family.

At school, however, I wasn't as lucky. Spurred on by the positive reception from my parents, I came out to my friends. Instead of accepting me, they spread my identity around the school like it was a dirty secret. My teachers didn't ask how they could support me; they started gossiping about me, and I became quickly isolated. My school's administration didn't offer support, but questioned the validity of my identity. I began to doubt the decision to come out. I missed weeks of school, and my grades plummeted.

While I would have felt relieved when studying history, now I felt stressed. I had never heard of anyone being transgender in the past, and I began to feel like I was part of something new, a burden I would have to carry through my life.

During the final project of my history class, I took a leap of faith. I asked my teacher if he had ever heard of a transgender person from West Virginia history. His response was no, that he had never heard of something like that, and it didn't exist. I don't fault him for not knowing about trans figures from history (even though he was a history teacher), but I don't think that anyone's identity should be told it doesn't exist, and certainly not mine. His answer scared me, but I was desperate to find some kind of validation. I decided I would do my final project on transgender Civil War soldiers from West Virginia.

Who I found ended up becoming a role model for me. His name was Albert D.J. Cashier, who was a trans man who enlisted in the American Civil War (if you haven't heard about him, you should definitely look him up). His story propelled me to a place of self-confidence I didn't know I had. He was just like me, but two hundred years ago, and he was an important part of West Virginia history. The research I did on him, and the other soldiers like him, not only made me feel valid in my identity, but garnered me first place in the Social Studies Fair in my school.

I proved my teacher wrong about transgender people in history, proved my peers wrong about the validity of trans identity, but most importantly, proved my self-doubt wrong. I often think about what would have happened if I had learned about trans people from my teacher, rather than from my own insecurity. I would have probably come out sooner and been more sure in my identity. I also probably wouldn't have faced so much rejection from my peers, if trans identity had been normalized in the classroom.

Too often our history is edited to conform to our society's ideals today. The colonization of Turtle Island, also known as North America, violently ripped out the stories of queer and Two-Spirit Indigenous people. LGBTQ people have existed on this continent, and all across the world, since the beginning of time, but in our history books, that is seldom reflected.

And if LGBTQ history is taught, it is often not inclusive of transgender people. We, as students and educators, must make a concerted effort to highlight the stories of transgender people, which have often been erased from our history textbooks, especially the stories of folks with multiple marginalized identities, like trans folks of color.

The history of trans people is very important to me as a history nerd, but it's important to every young person. History is the proof of existence, and the affirmation of identity. The benefits of teaching trans-inclusive history reach further than trans students themselves, and can alter the school climate for the better. To include trans history, affirm your students, and improve school climates, you must use trans-inclusive education materials, like those offered by GLSEN.
James van Kuilenburg is a member of GLSEN's National Student Council.

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What Happened When I Studied a Trans Civil War Soldier for History Class

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I have admired history for as long as I can remember. Ever since I could read, I've enjoyed finding the stories of people just like me, albeit five hundred years ago. I've always liked how history is less like a lens, and more like a window.

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These Students Used Art to Put #KindnessInAction at School

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These Students Used Art to Put #KindnessInAction at School

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For No Name-Calling Week 2018, we encouraged students and educators across the country to create artwork using the theme of #KindessInAction in K-12 schools, because artwork has the power to change school climates for the better. Below are some of the best submissions we received. Make sure to also watch our No Name-Calling Week Open Mic featuring poetry about putting #KindnessInAction by queer and trans students of color!

Darby Christensen, Olathe Northwest High School
How does this submission show #KindnessInAction in schools? We're bringing awareness to the impact of slurs and insults, How does this submission show #KindnessInAction in schools? This self-portrait is a tribute to my first grade teacher. She helped me with my speech, from sounding out words to being my inspiration today and even just a few weeks ago to calm my nerves before public speaking at a Turner Broadcasting corporate event for a mass media conference. She's my inspiration for having come out as bisexual and accept myself in all aspects, from my strengths to my flaws. How does this submission show #KindnessInAction in schools? We are a small special education program. My students generated the hands of kindness to create a wreath. We distributed them to 140-150 students. How does this submission show #KindnessInAction in schools? It represents a girl inspired by my sister spreading kindness in the form of dandelion fluffs. Spreading compliments. How does this submission show #KindnessInAction in schools? They are giving the other person coffee. How does this submission show #KindnessInAction in schools? This submission showcases the artwork our GLOW (Gay Lesbian or Whomever) club students created for No Name-Calling Week. It was on display in our library along with a variety of LGBTQ-themed books. particularly to targeted minorities and LGBT+ students.
Brittany Ahn, Johns Creek High School

Whitney HS East

Adrian Adamek, Brookings Harbor High School

Gabrielle Hodges, Brookings Harbor High School

Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School GLOW Club

Thank you all for participating in No Name-Calling Week! If you missed it, you can pre-register for No Name-Calling Week 2019 and find resources to help end name-calling all year round here!

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These Students Used Art to Put #KindnessInAction at School

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For No Name-Calling Week 2018, we encouraged students and educators across the country to create artwork using the theme of #KindessInAction in K-12 schools, because artwork has the power to change school climates for the better. Below are some of the best submissions we received.

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GLSEN advocates for the adoption of policies that encourage positive school transformation where all students, including those who are LGBTQ+, transgender, nonbinary, people of color, and people with disabilities, can thrive and reach their full potential.

Access to inclusive curriculum is one of the Four Core Supports identified by GLSEN's research that improves school climates for LGBTQ+ youth, along with comprehensive nondiscrimination and anti-bullying policies, supportive educators, and access to GSAs (Gender and Sexuality Alliances or Gay Straight Alliances). Therefore, in alignment with our mission and our research findings, GLSEN supports inclusive curricular standards that require affirming representation of the contributions and lived experiences of LGBTQ+ people, people who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), people with disabilities, and all marginalized communities. GLSEN's support extends to both state legislation and administrative policy that establishes inclusive curricular standards. Inclusive curricular standards support the creation of inclusive curriculum at the local level, thereby promoting LGBTQ+ student well-being. LGBTQ+ students who see their full identities reflected in the classroom have stronger educational attainment and better mental health.

Curricular Standards: Curricular standards are the instruction goals for what students learn in school. Standards are not a curriculum. Local communities and educators choose their own curriculum.

Curriculum: A detailed plan for a series of unified lessons on a particular topic that are created by educators and local communities.

LGBTQ+ young people, including those who are BIPOC and people with disabilities, should have access to curriculum that reflects the fullness of their identities. Curriculum can serve as a mirror when it reflects individuals and their experiences back to themselves. At the same time curriculum can serve as a window when it introduces and provides the opportunity to understand other people's experiences and perspectives.

GLSEN also supports state curricular standards for comprehensive sex and personal health and safety education that are inclusive of people who are LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and people with disabilities. According to SEICUS: Sex Ed for Social Change, seven states - California, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington - and the District of Columbia require by law or administrative rule that sex education provided to students be specifically inclusive of LGBTQ+ young people. Among these, GLSEN has identified four states - California, Colorado, Illinois, and Washington - that also require that sex education be inclusive of young people who are BIPOC and people with disabilities. In each of these four states, amendments to include the experiences and contributions of LGBTQ+ people in the state curricular standards for sex education simultaneously support inclusion of students who are BIPOC and people with disabilities in sex education curriculum.

Inclusive Curriculum Promotes Student Achievement and Wellbeing

LGBTQ+ Students

LGBTQ+ Students With Disabilities

LGBTQ+ students with disabilities are impacted by ableism, a system of oppression that, like racism or sexism, benefits able-bodied people at the expense of people with disabilities. GLSEN's research indicates that LGBTQ+ students with disabilities were more likely to be disciplined in school and to drop out of school than LGBTQ+ students without disabilities. More than 1 in 5 LGBTQ+ students with disabilities reported feeling unsafe at school because of an actual or perceived disability (22.0%), and LGBTQ+ students with disabilities were also more likely than those without a disability to feel unsafe at school because of their academic ability (30.0% vs. 20.5%). Emerging research continues to demonstrate the need to expand inclusive curricular standards to encompass the experiences and address the needs of persons with disabilities.

BIPOC LGBTQ+ Students

Survey responses from LGBTQ+ students who are Black, Indigenous, or/and people of color (BIPOC) highlight differences in their lived experiences compared to their LGBTQ+ peers who are white. Approximately two-fifths of Native and Indigenous LGBTQ+ students in a recent study (41.2%) experienced harassment or assault at school due to both their sexual orientation and their race/ethnicity. Over half of Asian American and Pacific Islander LGBTQ+ students (51.8%) felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation, 41.1% because of their gender expression, and 26.4% because of their race or ethnicity. Approximately two-fifths of Black LGBTQ+ students in our study (40.0%) experienced harassment or assault at school based on both their sexual orientation and their race/ethnicity. Among Latinx LGBTQ+ students, more than half (54.9%) reported feeling unsafe because of their sexual orientation (54.9%), 44.2% reported feeling unsafe because of their gender expression, and more than one in five (22.3%) reported feeling unsafe due to their race or ethnicity. Latinx LGBTQ+ students born outside the U.S. were especially likely to feel unsafe regarding their race/ethnicity (29.1% vs. 21.8% of those born in the U.S.).

These and other findings in existing research suggest the need for curricular standards that are inclusive of communities of color and can help better reflect the experiences of BIPOC LGBTQ+ students. The benefits of inclusive curriculum are of increasing interest to educators, particularly those who work to counteract racial oppression and advance intersectional equity in K-12 education systems. Additional research findings suggest inclusive curriculum can help boost educational attainment for BIPOC students, as evidenced by higher test scores and an increased likelihood of graduating from high school.

Discriminatory Curriculum Bans Prohibit Honesty in K-12 Education

Despite the benefits of inclusive curriculum, new and old state laws prohibit honest teaching about the contributions, perspectives, and lived experiences of communities that experience marginalization, particularly LGBTQ+ communities and communities of color. GLSEN sees these discriminatory curriculum bans as connected, not only in the lives of LGBTQ+ students who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), but also because the erasure of the experiences and histories of BIPOC people includes the erasure of communities for whom gender and sexuality are more expansive. For example, Tribal Nations' struggle to uphold principles of sovereignty and self-determination includes rejecting efforts to denigrate and erase the experiences of Two Spirit/LGBTQ+ American Indians/Alaska Native people.

Telling the Truth about Race in School
Critical Race Theory (CRT) is a school of thought and analytic approach developed over forty years ago by legal scholars examining how policies create and perpetuate racial inequality, often without expressing overtly racist views or naming racial or ethnic groups.
How Might Students Encounter CRT?
Students in advanced secondary school classes may learn of history or ongoing impacts unearthed thanks to the work of a critical race theorist.
Example: students in an American History class might learn about "redlining," or the drawing of a red line around communities deemed risky investments by the federal government beginning in the 1930s. Although intended to be objective, ideas about what was normal and valuable shaped the practice of redlining so that redlined neighborhoods overwhelmingly mapped onto communities of color. Redlining has since been linked to increased racial segregation and a racial wealth gap, as BIPOC people were disproportionately prevented from building wealth through homeownership.

At the Federal level, the connection between discriminatory curriculum bans targeting LGBTQ+ communities and BIPOC communities has been made explicit in the 2021 joint resolution opposing "Critical Race Theory" in K-12 schools (H. Res. 397/S. Res. 246). The resolution inaccurately characterizes Critical Race Theory as a way to judge individuals based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, and national origin. In 2021, certain politicians in 28 states introduced bills prohibiting honest teaching about race and 10 states passed these discriminatory curriculum bans, framing them as bans on Critical Race Theory or "divisive concepts" - the same language used by the former Administration to prohibit federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings.

It is essential that we oppose discriminatory curriculum bans and call them what they are: prohibitions on truthful teaching about our country's history and truthful representations of human diversity that promote racism, homophobia, and transphobia. Discriminatory curriculum bans ill-prepare all students to live, work, and thrive in our diverse society and particularly harm students who are BIPOC and LGBTQ+. These efforts underscore the importance of state curricular standards that include the experiences, perspectives, and contributions of people who LGBTQ+, BIPOC, people with disabilities, and all marginalized communities.

State Spotlights

GLSEN recommends that states adopt curricular standards that include the experiences, perspectives, and contributions of LGBTQ+ people, Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC), people with disabilities, and from all communities that experience marginalization. Such inclusive standards promote student wellbeing and educational attainment; advance equity for students that experience marginalization; and prepare all students to thrive and reach their full potential in our diverse and globally interconnected society. Fortunately, several states are leading the way and providing models for others seeking to adopt inclusive curricular standards and to implement them effectively at the local level through new or revised curriculum.

Inclusive Curricular Standards Legislation

GLSEN endorses Nevada Assembly Bill 261 (2021) as a model for other states seeking to adopt inclusive curricular standards for social science, arts and humanities, and STEM subjects. Nevada's inclusive curricular standards law requires that the "history and contributions" of people who are LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and people with disabilities, and who otherwise experience marginalization be included in science, arts, and humanities curriculum. Nevada's law was developed in response to, and with input from, state and local advocates, who were concerned about the wellbeing and educational attainment of LGBTQ+ youth, particularly those who experience intersecting marginalization such as BIPOC youth and people with disabilities.

Nevada Assembly Bill 261 (2021)

AN ACT relating to education; requiring the board of trustees of a school district or the governing body of a charter school to ensure that instruction is provided to certain pupils on the history and contributions of certain groups of persons; revising provisions relating to the selection of instructional materials by the State Board of Education [as follows]...

Section 1. (1) ...ensure that instruction is provided to pupils enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12 in each public school within the school district or in the charter school, as applicable, on the history and contributions to science, the arts and humanities of: (a) Native Americans and Native American tribes; (b) Persons of marginalized sexual orientation or gender identity; (c) Persons with disabilities; (d) Persons from various racial and ethnic backgrounds, including, without limitation, persons who are African-American, Basque, Hispanic or Asian or Pacific Islander; (e) Persons from various socioeconomic statuses; (f) Immigrants or refugees; (g) Persons from various religious backgrounds; and (h) Any other group of persons the board of trustees of a school district or the governing body of a charter school deems appropriate...

Section 1. (3) Instructional materials, including, without limitation, a textbook, must not be selected by the State Board pursuant to subsection 1 for use in the public schools unless the State Board determines that the instructional materials accurately portray the history and contributions to science, the arts and humanities of the groups of persons described in section 1 of this act.

The full bill text is available online.

GLSEN also strongly supports comprehensive sex and personal health and safety education that is medically accurate and inclusive of young people who are LGBTQ+, intersex, BIPOC, and people with disabilities. California and Washington offer examples of robust inclusive sex education curricular standards legislation.

Implementing Inclusive Curricular Standards Legislation

In order for students to benefit from these laws and have access to inclusive curriculum, state leaders must not only adopt inclusive curricular standards, but also support implementation by local education agencies (LEAs) and schools. Effective implementation occurs when educators at schools and LEAs develop inclusive curriculum, or a series of unified lessons that adhere to the instruction goals outlined in state curricular standards. For example, the Oregon Department of Education provides resources and technical assistance to LEAs and schools that help advance the process of creating inclusive curriculum. As required by S.B. 13 (2017) Tribal History/Shared History, the Department provides professional development training, sample lesson plans, and organizes "train the trainer" events throughout the state.
S.B. 13 (2017) Tribal History/Shared History implementation resources are available online.

GLSEN Resources on LGBTQ+ Inclusive Curriculum Implementation

GLSEN's Inclusive Curriculum Guide provides resources for educators on implementation of intersectional, LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum. For example, GLSEN's Identity Flowers lesson plan encourages advanced elementary school students to explore their own identities and personal experiences through lenses of race, culture, ability, family structure, religion or spirituality, and gender identity and expression. Middle and high school students can learn about the contributions of LGBTQ+ people - including those who are transgender, nonbinary, BIPOC, and people with disabilities - to the arts, sciences, American history, and civil rights advocacy through GLSEN's LGBTQ+ History Cards and accompanying learning activities.

GLSEN's guide provides tips for interrupting anti-LGBTQ+ comments in the classroom and lesson plan ideas that are linked to common core standards, enabling educators to weave intersectional LGBTQ+ inclusive content into all aspects of the curriculum. This prevents curricular "isolation" and "fragmentation," whereby the contributions of communities that experience marginalization are introduced in ways that do not connect to broader course goals or themes and without due attention to intersectionality. Introducing LGBTQ+ content only during LGBTQ+ History Month (October) or LGBTQ+ Pride Month (June) is one way that curricular "isolation" can occur. GLSEN's Inclusive Curriculum Guide is available here: https://www.glsen.org/curriculum.

Funding Inclusive Curricular Standards Development & Curriculum Improvement

Federal funding is available to support the development of inclusive curricular standards at the state level and their implementation at the local level, including by creating or purchasing improved curricular content or materials, hiring specialized staff or consultants, and professional development. GLSEN's report, States' Use of ESSA to Advance LGBTQ+ Equity, provides information on how states can leverage the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to promote visibility of the lives, stories, and contributions of LGBTQ+ and other communities that experience marginalization in subjects ranging from history to science to English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL or ESL) to sex education.

For example, the California State Board of Education's (CSBE) ESSA State Plan communicates how the state education agency will utilize federal funds to support implementation of inclusive curricular standards. In the plan, educators acknowledged inclusive curriculum as a component of a broad strategy to support student transitions through grade levels and to increase graduation rates. Therefore, LEAs receiving ESSA Title I "school improvement" grants in the state are given priority registration for trainings on CSBE inclusive curricular standards. Competitive grant programs, such as Assistance for Arts Education, the Mathematics and Science Partnerships, and the Improving Literacy through School Libraries can also support curricular improvements. These grant programs support LEAs, particularly those with student populations identified as high-need, in implementing existing state curricular standards and strengthening curriculum, including through educator professional development and partnerships with communitybased organizations.

Inclusive curriculum benefits all students and offers critical supports to youth who experience marginalization. For young people who are LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and people with disabilities, curricular content that reflects all of who they are promotes educational attainment, mental health and well-being, and the development of a positive sense of self-worth. Inclusive curricular standards and inclusive curriculum must therefore be considered an essential component of broader efforts by states and LEAs to advance intersectional equity in K-12 education systems.

For additional information contact the GLSEN Public Policy Office at 202-621-5815 or policy@glsen.org, located at 1015 15th Street NW, 6th floor, Washington, DC 20005.

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See for example, Maryland, where the legislature delegated the authority to require inclusive curricular standards to the State Department of Education. Samantha Schmidt. "Maryland Schools Aim to Include LGBT and Disability Rights in History Curriculum." Washington Post, August 16, 2019. Available here.
Kosciw, J. G., Clark, C. M., Truong, N. L., & Zongrone, A. D. (2020). The 2019 National School Climate Survey: The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth in our nation's schools. New York: GLSEN. Available here. (pp. 73-75).
Adopted from Common Core State Standards Initiative: "What are educational standards?" Available here.
Ibid.
Bishop, Rudine Sims (1990). "Mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors." Perspectives: Choosing and Using Books for the Classroom, 6(3).
Johnson, Nancy J., Melanie D. Koss, and Miriam Martinez. (2018). Through the sliding glass door: # EmpowerTheReader." The Reading Teacher 71.5: 569-577.
Policy Maps. Available at https://www.glsen.org/policy-maps.
Illinois's LGBTQ+ inclusive curricular standards bill amended an existing U.S. and Illinois history curricular standards law that enumerated inclusion of BIPOC communities, including African American, Hispanic, Asian America, and Mexican-American communities ( 2019 HB246). The following year, state and local advocates for LGBTQ+ equity in Illinois supported the development of a curricular standards law that was passed in 2021, which ensures sex education is inclusive of people who are LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and people with disabilities ( 2021 SB818).
Comprehensive sex and personal health and safety education is required in some of the states, while in others, schools or districts may choose to offer sex and personal health and safety education and, if they do, it must be LGBTQ+ inclusive. In Connecticut, Maryland, and Vermont, the state education agency (SEA) encourages but does not require LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum.
SIECUS. (N.D.) State Profiles. (Accessed December 1, 2021).
SIECUS. (2021). A Call to Action: LGBTQ+ Youth Need Inclusive Sex Education.
SIECUS. (2021). Sex Ed State Law and Policy Chart - SIECUS State Profiles: Aug. 2021.
Kosciw, J. G., Clark, C. M., Truong, N. L., & Zongrone, A. D. (2020). The 2019 National School Climate Survey: The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer youth in our nation's schools. New York: GLSEN. Available here. (p. 73).
lbid. (p. 75).
Kosciw, J. G., Greytak, E. A., Palmer, N. A., & Boesen, M. J. (2014).The 2013 National School Climate Survey: The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth in our nation's schools. New York: GLSEN. (p. 71).
Carter, Jacob M. (2018). The problem with LGBQT underrepresentation. ASBMB Today. (Accessed November 18, 2021).
Das, Lala Tanmoy. (2020). We need more transgender and gender nonbinary doctors. Association of American Medical Colleges. (Accessed November 18, 2021).
LGBTQ+ youth have greater exposure to universal risk factors for depression and other mental health issues owing to factors such as higher rates of conflict with parents. Protective factors are those that promote mental health, well-being, and resilience. See: Stephen T. Russell and Jessica N. Fish, "Mental Health in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Youth," Annual Review of Clinical Psychology 12 (2016): 465-487.
GLSEN (2016). "Educational Exclusion: Drop Out, Push Out, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline among LGBTQ Youth." (New York: GLSEN).
Kosciw, Joseph G. et al. (2018). " 2017 National School Climate Survey: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Youth in Our Nation's Schools" (New York: GLSEN). (pp. 90-91).
See Fornauf, B. S., & Mascio, B. (2021). Extending DisCrit: a case of universal design for learning and equity in a rural teacher residency. Race Ethnicity and Education, 1-16.
Tan, P., & Thorius, K. K. (2019). Toward equity in mathematics education for students with dis/abilities: A case study of professional learning. American Educational Research Journal, 56(3), 995-1032.
H. Samy Alim, Susan Baglieri, Gloria Ladson-Billings, Django Paris, David H. Rose and Joseph Michael Valente. (2017). "Responding to "CrossPollinating Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy and Universal Design for Learning: Toward an Inclusive Pedagogy That Accounts for Dis/Ability." Harvard Educational Review 87:1, 4-25. Online publication date: 15-Mar-2017
Kathleen A. King Thorius and Federico R. Waitoller. (2017). "Strategic Coalitions Against Exclusion at the Intersection of Race and Disability-A Rejoinder." Harvard Educational Review 87:2, 251-257.
Zongrone, A. D., Truong, N. L., and Kosciw, J. G. (2020). "Erasure and resilience: The experiences of LGBTQ students of color, Native American, American Indian, and Alaska Native LGBTQ youth in U.S. schools." (New York: GLSEN).
Zongrone, A. D., Truong, N. L., and Kosciw, J. G. (2020). "Erasure and resilience: The experiences of LGBTQ students of color, Asian American and Pacific Islander LGBTQ youth in U.S. schools." (New York: GLSEN).
Zongrone, A. D., Truong, N. L., and Kosciw, J. G. (2020). "Erasure and resilience: The experiences of LGBTQ students of color, Black LGBTQ youth in U.S. schools." (New York: GLSEN).
Zongrone, A. D., Truong, N. L., and Kosciw, J. G. (2020). "Erasure and resilience: The experiences of LGBTQ students of color, Latinx LGBTQ youth in U.S. schools." (New York: GLSEN).
See Gay, Geneva (2018). "Third Edition: Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice." (New York: Teacher's College, Columbia University).
Johnston, E., D'Andrea, Montalbano, P., & Kirkland, D.E. (2017). "Culturally Responsive Education: A Primer for Policy And Practice." (New York: New York University). Available here.
Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools at New York University. "Culturally Responsive Education (CRE) Stories." Available here.
Educators Writers Association (January 2, 2015). "Report: Mexican-American Studies Breed Better Academic Performance." Available here.
Edmo, Se-ah-dom and Aaron Ridings, editors. (2017). Tribal Equity Toolkit 3.0: Tribal Resolutions and Codes to Support Two Spirit & LGBT Justice in Indian Country.
Davis-Young, Katherine. (2019). For many Native Americans, embracing LGBT members is a return to the past. Washington Post.
GLSEN. (2018). Laws Prohibiting "Promotion of Homosexuality" in Schools: Impacts and Implications (Research Brief).
Arkansas ( SB 389), Montana ( SB 99), and Tennessee ( SB 1229).
Executive Order 13950 (2020) prohibited federal funds for "divisive" diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings and pitted individuals' "racial and sexual identities" against their "status as human beings and Americans."
George, Janel. (2021). A Lesson on Critical Race Theory. American Bar Association. (Accessed December 13, 2021).
McLaughlin, Eliot C. (2021). Critical race theory is a lens-Here are 11 ways looking through it might refine your understanding of history. CNN. (Accessed December 13, 2021).
Sawchuk, Stephen. (2021). What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is It Under Attack? EducationWeek. (Accessed December 9, 2021).
GLSEN. (2021). Nevada Passes New Law Supporting LGBTQ+ Inclusive Curriculum. (Accessed December 9, 2021).
Washick, B., Tobin, H. J., Ridings, A., Juste, T. (2021). States' Use of the Every Students Succeeds Act to Advance LGBTQ+ Equity: Assessment of State Plans and Recommendations. DC: GLSEN. (pp. 15-16, 33).
Ibid.

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Access to inclusive curriculum is one of the Four Core Supports identified by GLSEN's research that improves school climates for LGBTQ+ youth, along with comprehensive nondiscrimination and anti-bullying policies, supportive educators, and access to GSAs (Gender and Sexuality Alliances or Gay Straight Alliances).

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Why (and How) STEM Curriculum Needs to Be LGBT Inclusive

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Why (and How) STEM Curriculum Needs to Be LGBT Inclusive

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As a bisexual genderqueer person, I never saw or even imagined seeing myself in my classes. Then, in a college genetics class, I learned that there were biologically(!) more than two sexes. Then, in an animal behavior class, I learned that same-sex mating was pretty common in the animal kingdom. My major instantly became far more fascinating. Although early in college I had considered dropping my bachelor of science major and focusing on my bachelor of arts, my interest in what I was learning about gender and sexual diversity contributed to my sticking with my original plan.

Through my experience as a student and later as a high school science teacher, I recognized that LGBT inclusion in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curricula has a real effect on students' choices. GLSEN's research confirms this. According to GLSEN's most recent National School Climate Survey, LGBT high school seniors whose STEM curriculum included positive LGBT content are twice as likely to choose a college major in those fields.

To me, this was no big surprise. We all have a desire to go to places where we belong, where there are people like us. Our choice in careers is not all that different from our choices in parties - we want to know who will be there and if we're welcome before we go.

When students see themselves reflected in their curriculum and pursue STEM in college, they gain access to numerous opportunities. People with skills in STEM are in high demand for interesting and dynamic work making amazing new things and sometimes fundamentally changing the way we view the universe. STEM careers also pay well and provide a high level of job security.

While LGBT students benefit from an LGBT-inclusive STEM curriculum, STEM as a field benefits, too. When LGBT students see themselves reflected in their curriculum and choose STEM careers, diverse new perspectives are introduced into the field, which fosters new ideas and the growth of knowledge.

But what does an LGBT-inclusive STEM curriculum look like? For one, it acknowledges that nature loves gender and sexual diversity. In addition to there being more than two biological sexes, there are even animals who change their biological sex, individual animals with two sexes, and animals that have sex roles reversed from the stereotypes I had been raised learning. And same-sex mating is just the beginning of the diversity of sexual behavior in the animal kingdom. Sex, in nature, just as within human populations, has purposes far beyond reproduction that provide real benefits for individuals and their communities.

An LGBT-inclusive STEM curriculum is also one that acknowledges the lives of LGBT individuals in the field. For instance, Sally Ride was a physicist and astronaut. She was also a lesbian. Let's talk about the whole lives of LGBT professionals in STEM so that anyone with the skills to go to space wants to get off the launch pad and go to that inclusive party in the sky.

Please encourage STEM teachers to be LGBT inclusive. There are countless reasons and opportunities to do so. Learn more about LGBT-inclusive curriculum here.

Mary Hoelscher, Ph.D. is currently out of their science classroom and working to help all teachers create inclusive classrooms as a school administrator in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

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Why (and How) STEM Curriculum Needs to Be LGBT Inclusive

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As a bisexual genderqueer person, I never saw or even imagined seeing myself in my classes. Then, in a college genetics class, I learned that there were biologically(!) more than two sexes. Then, in an animal behavior class, I learned that same-sex mating was pretty common in the animal kingdom.

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Marsha "Pay it No Mind" Johnson (1945-1992) was a Black trans woman who was a force behind the Stonewall Riots and surrounding activism that sparked a new phase of the LGBTQ+ movement in 1969. Along with Sylvia Rivera, she established the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) in 1970--a group committed to supporting transgender youth experiencing homelessness in New York City. Marsha P. Johnson was tragically murdered on July 6, 1992 at the age of forty-six. Her case was originally closed by the NYPD as an alleged suicide, but transgender activist Mariah Lopez fought for it to be reopened for investigation in 2012. Marsha P. Johnson is now one of the most venerated icons in LGBTQ+ history, has been celebrated in a series of books, documentaries, and films. Her actions and words continue to inspire trans activism and resistance, and will continue to do so well into the future. Learn more about Marsha P. Johnson through the work of Tourmaline and Sasha Wortzel here.

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GLSEN LGBTQ+ History Cards - Marsha P Johnson

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Marsha "Pay it No Mind" Johnson (1945-1992) was a Black trans woman who was a force behind the Stonewall Riots and surrounding activism that sparked a new phase of the LGBTQ+ movement in 1969. Along with Sylvia Rivera, she established the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) in 1970--a group committed to supporting transgender youth experiencing homelessness in New York City.

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THE DARING RESCUE OF HORSES KIDNAPPED DURING WORLD WAR II

Letts adapts her bestselling 2016 work of the same title for young readers.

As World War II sweeps across Europe, the fates of several master horsemen become entwined. In Poland, Andrzej Kristalovich, head of the national stud farm, sees his life's work disappear when Russian soldiers capture his horses. Nazi Germans, invading next, restore some of the animals in order to breed them for the Third Reich. Meanwhile, in Vienna, Olympic medalist Alois Podhajsky is desperately trying to care for the Lipizzan stallions at the famed Spanish Riding School even as the invading Germans capture the Lipizzan stud farms and move most of the horses to Czechoslovakia. Meanwhile, at an American Army base in Kansas, Maj. Hank Reed is overseeing the cavalry's transition from horses, no longer useful in warfare, to mechanized vehicles. These threads come together at the end of the war when Reed orchestrates a complex rescue of both sets of horses. This is not a particularly successful adaptation. It's shorter than the original, but both the storyline and timeline are fragmented, making it difficult for the putative audience of 8- to 12-year-olds to follow, and extraneous details fail to advance the main narrative. Aside from a map and archival images (both not seen), there is no timeline or other visual aid to help organize the narrative. Characters are all white.

If readers can make sense of this story, they're likely able to tackle the original instead. (author's note, characters, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

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Letts adapts her bestselling 2016 work of the same title for young readers. As World War II sweeps across Europe, the fates of several master horsemen become entwined. In Poland, Andrzej Kristalovich, head of the national stud farm, sees his life's work disappear when Russian soldiers capture his horses.

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Stonewall: A Building, An Uprising, A Revolution 

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Stonewall: A Building, An Uprising, A Revolution 

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A watershed picture book for a watershed moment-all in time for the Stonewall uprising's 50th anniversary.

The historic Stonewall Inn, site of the eponymous uprising (and the book's first-person-plural narrator), originated as two separate stable houses in 1840s Greenwich Village. By 1930, the buildings were joined to become Bonnie's Stone Wall restaurant, "a place where being different was welcomed and accepted." 1967 saw another change-to the Stonewall Inn (a tamely depicted bar and dance club). Subsequent years saw multiple police raids targeting the establishment's LGBTQIAP patrons. On June 28, 1969, the people finally fought back, galvanizing the LGBTQIAP rights movement. As the text carries readers from past to present, its unusual narrative perspective gives a strong sense of place and community. Sanders attempts to balance the received historical narrative with inclusivity, but his retrospective tone bears slight hints of erasure when, for example, "gay men and women" is used as a catchall phrase. Moreover, though the backmatter makes mention of the key roles of trans women of color in the uprising, the visuals instead position a white-presenting woman as a key instigator. Christoph's digitally rendered illustrations paint a vivid, diverse portrait of both setting and community. The book concludes with photographs and an interview with Martin Boyce, a participant in the uprising.

A beautiful-if a bit cis-centric-tribute. (glossary, bibliography) (Informational picture book. 5-9)

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A watershed picture book for a watershed moment-all in time for the Stonewall uprising's 50th anniversary. The historic Stonewall Inn, site of the eponymous uprising (and the book's first-person-plural narrator), originated as two separate stable houses in 1840s Greenwich Village.

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Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag

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Pride: The Story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag

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From the Celebrate the World series

by Hannah Eliot ; illustrated by Alina Chau ‧

Lovely illustrations wasted on this misguided project.

The Celebrate the World series spotlights Lunar New Year.

This board book blends expository text and first-person-plural narrative, introducing readers to the holiday. Chau's distinctive, finely textured watercolor paintings add depth, transitioning smoothly from a grand cityscape to the dining room table, from fantasies of the past to dumplings of the present. The text attempts to provide a broad look at the subject, including other names for the celebration, related cosmology, and historical background, as well as a more-personal discussion of traditions and practices. Yet it's never clear who the narrator is-while the narrative indicates the existence of some consistent, monolithic group who participates in specific rituals of celebration ("Before the new year celebrations begin, we clean our homes-and ourselves!"), the illustrations depict different people in every image. Indeed, observances of Lunar New Year are as diverse as the people who celebrate it, which neither the text nor the images-all of the people appear to be Asian-fully acknowledges. Also unclear is the book's intended audience. With large blocks of explication on every spread, it is entirely unappealing for the board-book set, and the format may make it equally unattractive to an older, more appropriate audience. Still, readers may appreciate seeing an important celebration warmly and vibrantly portrayed.

Lovely illustrations wasted on this misguided project. (Board book. 4-8)

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A hope-filled ode to the rainbow flag, the LGBTQ rights movement's most prominent symbol.

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Sewing the Rainbow: The Story of Gilbert Baker and the Rainbow Flag 

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Sewing the Rainbow: The Story of Gilbert Baker and the Rainbow Flag 

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A colorful tribute to Gilbert Baker and his rainbow flag.

Gilbert, "a little boy who was full of color and sparkle and glitter," grew up "where everything was gray and dull and flat." His grandmother's clothing boutique supported his love for fashion, soon crushed by paternal disapproval. He could be "his colorful, sparkly, glittery self" only in San Francisco, moving there after his brief, disastrous military service. Surrounded by the city's famed painted ladies, Gilbert rediscovers his passions, creating the rainbow flag after a conversation with Harvey Milk. The art is beautiful and bright, transitioning powerfully from a subdued Kansan landscape to a flamboyant Bay Area. Some textual shifts are jarring, as when Gilbert "received a letter that knocked every last bit of sparkle out of him" and is suddenly in uniform, with no explanation about the draft. Similarly, before the flag's invention, "There was just one thing that continued to blemish their beautiful city. It was a symbol that, in Gilbert's community, was a constant reminder of evil." This confusing allusion to the pink triangle is explained only in the densely packed author's note, and the word "gay" never appears in the story; readers must wait to learn about the rainbow's direct connection to LGBTQ identities in the endnote.

It's clear this book has a lot of love for the flag's promise that "it's okay to be your colorful, sparkly, glittery self," but it elides a clear description of the communities it's for. (Picture book/biography. 4-8)

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A colorful tribute to Gilbert Baker and his rainbow flag. Gilbert, "a little boy who was full of color and sparkle and glitter," grew up "where everything was gray and dull and flat." His grandmother's clothing boutique supported his love for fashion, soon crushed by paternal disapproval.

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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe 

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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe 

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This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.

46

GET IT

After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.

Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her-who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves-Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.

This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author's note) (Fiction. 14 & up)

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ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF ... | Kirkus Reviews

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A boring summer stretches ahead of Ari, who at 15 feels hemmed in by a life filled with rules and family secrets.

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VERDICT A heartwarming and engaging tale that treats Sunny's emerging sexual identity with care, authenticity, and age appropriateness. A first purchase for public and school libraries.

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This hefty sequel to Six of Crows (2015) brings high-tension conclusions to the many intertwined intrigues of Ketterdam.

It's time for revenge-has been ever since old-before-his-time crook Kaz and his friends were double-crossed by the merchant princes of Ketterdam, an early-industrial Amsterdam-like fantasy city filled to the brim with crime and corruption. Disabled, infuriated, and perpetually scheming Kaz, the light-skinned teen mastermind, coordinates the efforts to rescue Inej. Though Kaz is loath to admit weakness, Inej is his, for he can't bear any harm come to the knife-wielding, brown-skinned Suli acrobat. Their team is rounded out by Wylan, a light-skinned chemist and musician whose merchant father tried to have him murdered and who can't read due to a print disability; Wylan's brown-skinned biracial boyfriend, Jesper, a flirtatious gambler with ADHD; Nina, the pale brunette Grisha witch and recovering addict from Russia-like Ravka; Matthias, Nina's national enemy and great love, a big, white, blond drüskelle warrior from the cold northern lands; and Kuwei, the rescued Shu boy everyone wants to kidnap. Can these kids rescue everyone who needs rescuing in Ketterdam's vile political swamp? This is dark and violent-one notable scene features a parade of teens armed with revolvers, rifles, pistols, explosives, and flash bombs-but gut-wrenchingly genuine. Astonishingly, Bardugo keeps all these balls in the air over the 500-plus pages of narrative.

How can such a hefty tome be un-put-down-able excitement from beginning to end? (glossary) (Fantasy. 14 & up)

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This hefty sequel to Six of Crows (2015) brings high-tension conclusions to the many intertwined intrigues of Ketterdam. It's time for revenge-has been ever since old-before-his-time crook Kaz and his friends were double-crossed by the merchant princes of Ketterdam, an early-industrial Amsterdam-like fantasy city filled to the brim with crime and corruption.

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This hefty sequel to Six of Crows (2015) brings high-tension conclusions to the many intertwined intrigues of Ketterdam.

It's time for revenge-has been ever since old-before-his-time crook Kaz and his friends were double-crossed by the merchant princes of Ketterdam, an early-industrial Amsterdam-like fantasy city filled to the brim with crime and corruption. Disabled, infuriated, and perpetually scheming Kaz, the light-skinned teen mastermind, coordinates the efforts to rescue Inej. Though Kaz is loath to admit weakness, Inej is his, for he can't bear any harm come to the knife-wielding, brown-skinned Suli acrobat. Their team is rounded out by Wylan, a light-skinned chemist and musician whose merchant father tried to have him murdered and who can't read due to a print disability; Wylan's brown-skinned biracial boyfriend, Jesper, a flirtatious gambler with ADHD; Nina, the pale brunette Grisha witch and recovering addict from Russia-like Ravka; Matthias, Nina's national enemy and great love, a big, white, blond drüskelle warrior from the cold northern lands; and Kuwei, the rescued Shu boy everyone wants to kidnap. Can these kids rescue everyone who needs rescuing in Ketterdam's vile political swamp? This is dark and violent-one notable scene features a parade of teens armed with revolvers, rifles, pistols, explosives, and flash bombs-but gut-wrenchingly genuine. Astonishingly, Bardugo keeps all these balls in the air over the 500-plus pages of narrative.

How can such a hefty tome be un-put-down-able excitement from beginning to end? (glossary) (Fantasy. 14 & up)

Did you like this book?

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This hefty sequel to Six of Crows (2015) brings high-tension conclusions to the many intertwined intrigues of Ketterdam. It's time for revenge-has been ever since old-before-his-time crook Kaz and his friends were double-crossed by the merchant princes of Ketterdam, an early-industrial Amsterdam-like fantasy city filled to the brim with crime and corruption.

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GLSEN's LGBTQ+ History Cards feature icons and events that have greatly impacted the LGBTQ+ community in contemporary history. As demonstrated through GLSEN's research, we know that inclusive curriculum is a critical part of fostering safe and affirming learning environments for all students. We hope this deck allows students to see themselves reflected in the stories of influential LGBTQ+ leaders and events that are too often erased in history curriculum.

You can purchase your own deck of LGBTQ History Cards at the GLSEN shop.
VIEW ALL 50 EXTENDED BIOGRAPHIES HERE!
ACTIVITIES

This deck can be used in a variety of activities to learn more about the often-erased history and legacy of LGBTQ+ people. Here are some ideas:

MUSICAL CARDS - Look through the deck and select cards that best fit your students' understanding and interests, while being sure they still represent a wide range of identities and topics. Pass one card face up to each student and then turn on some music. Instruct students to pass the cards around the classroom until the music stops and everybody freezes! Ask students to pair with someone near them, flip over their cards, and discuss why the icons or events are significant

GUESS WHO? - In pairs, students choose an icon card and play "Guess Who?" One student picks an icon and the other asks questions to figure out which icon it is, but only with "yes" or "no" answers. This can also be done with the class taking turns guessing as a group. You may want to give students copies of the extended bios from the virtual card deck online, too.

LGBTQ+ VENN DIAGRAM - Students choose two cards and create a Venn diagram to show how the icons are both similar and different. Encourage them to consider identities, location, era, and impact. Then they can present to the class!

LGBTQ+ BULLETIN BOARD - Allow students to choose one card a day beginning the first day of October, LGBTQ+ History Month. Each day, read info and go online to learn more about the person. Display the card on a bulletin board to create a "Display of LGBTQ+ Icons"

MAKE YOUR OWN HOLIDAY - Have students choose a card and create a holiday for the icon: https://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/00-2/lp2285.shtml

MAKE YOUR OWN MEDAL - Students draw a medal or certificate for the icon they choose, detailing why they are being celebrated, and present it to the class.

WRITE A NEWSPAPER ARTICLE - Students each choose a card. They use the short card bio and longer website bio to create a newspaper article about their life. For icons who have passed, they can speak about their impact while alive, and the legacy they left behind.

CREATE A PLAYLIST- Students each choose a card. They use the short card bio and longer website bio to create a playlist that embodies the figure. They can consider the time period the figure is from, themes from their life, or simply imagine the type of music they think the figure might like to select 5-10 songs for a playlist. Students can also give their playlist a fun title and create "album art" to go with it!

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GLSEN's LGBTQ+ History Cards feature icons and events that have greatly impacted the LGBTQ+ community in contemporary history. As demonstrated through GLSEN's research, we know that inclusive curriculum is a critical part of fostering safe and affirming learning environments for all students.