What's happening
This bill requires New York schools to include LGBT awareness and history in their curriculum, starting July 1, 2020.
Why it matters
Promotes greater understanding and acceptance of LGBT individuals. by requiring instruction on the historical treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender non-conforming people, potentially reducing stigma and bullying in schools.
Allows flexibility for local adaptation. , as the materials and instruction can be tailored by each school district to meet the specific needs and cultural context of their students, rather than imposing a one-size-fits-all curriculum.
Integrates LGBT history into broader educational goals. , by permitting schools to include this material within social studies or other appropriate subjects, which could help normalize LGBT stories as part of the wider narrative of American and world history.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Require LGBT History Lessons
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
2 Co-sponsors
History
- Referred to education
- Referred to education
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Require LGBT Education in Schools
In Assembly Committee · Education · Sponsor Rebecca Seawright
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1478
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 15, 2019
Introduced by Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring LGBT awareness curriculum or instruction
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 804-e to read as follows:
§ 804-e. LGBT awareness curriculum or instruction. 1. The commissioner, in consultation with any appropriate agency, shall establish curriculum or instruction for school districts in the historical treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender non-conforming individuals. The contents may be varied to meet the needs of particular school districts, or portions thereof, and need not be uniform throughout the state. The content shall be age appropriate and shall be developed according to the needs and abilities of pupils at successive grade levels in order to provide information, skills, and understanding of the historical treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.
2. Schools may include the above materials as a component of its social studies curriculum or any other way the school deems appropriate.
§ 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020 and shall apply to school years commencing on or after such date. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07245-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring LGBT aware- ness curriculum or instruction
Summary of provisions
Section 1 adds a new section 804-e to the education law that instructs the commissioner, in consultation with any appropriate agency, to estab- lish curriculum or instruction for school districts in the historical treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender non-conform- ing individuals. The content shall be age appropriate and shall be developed according to the needs and abilities of pupils at successive grade levels in order to provide information, skills, and understanding of the historic treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.
Schools may include these materials as a component of its social studies curriculum or any other way the school deems appropriate.
Section 2 is the effective date.
Justification
This bill instructs the State Education Commissioner to develop instruc- tional or curriculum materials on the historical treatment of LGBT indi- viduals for adoption by school districts.
LGBT people have faced enormous odds and deep societal marginalization in recent decades, which has manifested in pervasive secrecy, shame, violence, and ultimately, activism. Despite our country's enormous progress toward reaching full LGBT equality today, institutional barri- ers and individual attitudes against LGBT rights persist.
The history of the modern LGBT rights movement is closely tied to New York and particularly Greenwich Village, where the Stonewall riots occurred in 1969, Julius' Sip-In took place in 1966, and the group ACT- UP formed to fight AIDS in 1987. Instruction in LGBT history could cover these and other topics of national relevance such as Anita Bryant's Save Our Children campaign - the first organized opposition to the gay rights movement that developed in response to an LGBT anti-discrimination bill in Florida in the 1970s; or the Briggs Initiative - a failed California ballot initiative in 1978 that would have banned gays and lesbians and those who supported them from working in public schools.
Students should be exposed to the historic treatment of LGBT people, because those who do not study and remember our past are doomed to repeat and forget it. This lesson is increasingly clear as we watch certain states and the federal government attempt to roll back hard- fought protections for LGBT people. Further, studies have shown that young people who learn about intolerance are less likely to engage in intolerant behaviors.
This legislation will provide critical tools for teachers to cover this important piece of contemporary history. Illinois has passed similar legislation, and California includes LGBT history in its textbooks. New York should join them by providing instruction in LGBT history to its students.
Legislative history
2018: S.8676 (Hoylman) - Died in Education
Effective date
This act shall take effect July 1, 2020 and shall apply to school years commencing on or after such date.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.