From grassroots campaigns and activism to top-down initiatives for and against curricular reform, this open access book investigates the movement to integrate LGBTQ+ history into high school history courses in the USA. Stacie Brensilver Berman charts the development of the movement from the founding of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and the passing of the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act in California, to the resurgence of conservative thought after the 2016 election. Based on 13 interviews with high school teachers about integrating LGBTQ+ history in their classes, the author reveals the challenges inherent to K-12 curricular reform amid the reluctance of a conservative nation and many of its school systems to consider an alternative vision. The book offers the first detailed portrait of a prophetic minority of educators and activists championing a more inclusive and accurate vision of American history. The book includes a Foreword written by Blanche Wiesen Cook, Distinguished Professor of History and Women’s Studies at the City University of New York, USA, and Robert Cohen, Professor of Social Studies, Education, at New York University, USA.The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.
Stacie Brensilver Berman is Visiting Assistant Professor at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University, USA.
List of FiguresPrefaceForeword, Blanche Wiesen Cook and Robert CohenAcknowledgementsList of AbbreviationsIntroduction1. Making History: The LGBTQ+ Movement’s Evolving Struggle for Acknowledgement and Inclusivity2. Building a Model: LGBTQ+ History and Higher Education 3. Expanding Awareness: LGBTQ+ Content in Students’ Lives4. Creating Community: LGBTQ+ Content in Social Studies Classes5. Two Steps Forward: LGBTQ+ History Resources and the Obstacles They Face6. The FAIR Act: A Legislative Victory for LGBTQ+ History Education 7. Victory Deferred?: Implementing LGBTQ+ Curriculum Laws 8. Compelled to Act: Teachers Who Include LGBTQ+ History9. Innovations at the Grassroots Level: LGBTQ+ History in High School Classroom Instruction10. Impact at the Grassroots: Challenges and Rewards in Teaching LGBTQ+ HistoryConclusionBibliographyAppendix A: List of Teacher InterviewsAppendix B: List of Activist and Scholar InterviewsAppendix C: Online Resources for Teaching LGBTQ History Index
Reading through these chapters with the knowledge of current events makes Berman’s historical tracing ever more prescient and necessary for all educators to understand and take into account in the ways that we withstand and resist the current forces that seek to erase LGBTQ+ histories from schools.