WASHINGTON, USA — "LGBTQ identities were erased in schools and largely in most places they still are," said Ken Shulman, the executive director for Lambert House in Seattle, an LGBTQ youth center addressing the physical and mental health disparities of young people in Washington. Shulman said it can be hard for young people to accept or understand communities when they are ignored in the classroom.
"It's considered too controversial to mention to kids that Thoreau was gay, or Walt Whitman was gay," said Shulman. "Allen Turing who invented the first computer, helped serve the Enigma code and win World War 2 was gay."
But this approach to teaching will soon change in Washington. This week Governor Inslee signed into law Senate Bill 5462, requiring public schools in Washington to create a curriculum including the histories, contributions, and perspectives of marginalized communities. This includes people of color, refugees, people with disabilities, and other various ethnic and religious groups whose stories have been swept under the rug.
Kristie Bennett is a high school teacher in Sammamish, Wash. She leads her school's Gender-Sexuality Alliance. She is bisexual, so she knows the importance of representation for students.
"I've seen firsthand how important an inclusive curriculum can be and how life-changing it can be to help a student," said Bennett.
By June 2025, state education leaders will revise a model policy. Then by October of next year, all public schools in Washington will have to put the new curriculum in place.
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