BILL NUMBER: S8676

SPONSOR: HOYLMAN
 
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:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect July 1, 2019 and shall apply to school years
commencing on or after such date.