Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1130365
D I D Y O U K N O W that LGBTQ+ students who attend schools with inclusive curriculum (with LGBTQ+ history, events and people) have bet- ter academic outcomes? Pride Month is the perfect time to increase the diversity in your curricu- lum. Here are some ideas that could work for all ages, but especially for high school and college students: • Create opportunities for students to develop an authentic awareness of the world by hearing stories from LGBTQ+ folks. StoryCorps has an archive of LGBTQ voices. Check out #StonewallOutLoud (storycorps.org/outloud). • Incorporate conversations about LGBTQ+ rights, activists and important events in history, including Harvey Milk's election and assassination, the Stonewall Riots, and transgender activists of color, like Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Brown, and civil rights activist Bayard Rustin. • Include the work of LGBTQ+ writ- ers, like James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Gloria Anzaldúa, Alison Bechdel, Cheryl Clarke, Darnell L. Moore and Janet Mock. Include books in your library for younger students like This Day in June and Julián Is a Mermaid. • Ensure students see themselves and learn about people different from them: Explore scenes from films and TV shows with LGBTQ+ characters. Great options on Netflix include "Gender Revolution," "Paris Is Burning," "How to Survive a Plague," "Pose" and "Milk." • When discussing health issues, sharing facts about sexual ori- entation, gender identity and expression, and nonjudgmental information about HIV prevention and transmission can help fight the stigma. It's important to express that HIV affects everyone, not just LGBTQ+ folks. • Explore identities and terms that challenge normative definitions of gender, like "nonbinary" and "gen- der expansive." Challenge gender stereotypes when they come up in other curriculum. • If you have a GSA in your school, partner with students to learn what they would like to see in curriculum. From StoryCorps' Stonewall OutLoud, which captures and shares the stories of LGBTQ+ elders. A Lot of Pride Inclusive curriculum helps LGBTQ+ students and school communities By @samdemuro The Stories S T O N E W A L L O U T L O U D is a new initiative to gather the stories of LGBTQ+ elders before they are lost to history. It connects generations through interview experiences, preserves these stories for the future, and shares LGBTQ+ voices with a broad audience through educational and broadcast partnerships. Everyone can participate. While the initiative is in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in 1969, and interviewees need to have been born before that year, no connection to Stonewall is required. Check out the toolkits, with recording tips and sample interview questions, at storycorps.org/outloud. Then use the StoryCorps app on your mobile device to start recording! Each interview will become a permanent part of American history at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. GLSEN has excellent resources: glsen.org/educate/resources/ curriculum Note: The First Amendment and federal laws such as the Equal Access Act generally do not restrict schools' authority to design curricula. When school professionals include health, tolerance and anti-bullying in their curricula, that choice is also pro- tected by the law. (Lambda Legal) 13 J U N E / J U L Y 2 019 I D I G I T A L B U Z Z