It’s that time of year again! Here’s my annual collection of back-to-school resources for LGBTQ parents, parents of LGBTQ children, and educators, enlarged and improved for 2019! I hope it remains useful, whether your children are just entering school, starting a new school, or encountering new situations in their educational journeys.
Here’s what’s happening that I haven’t covered elsewhere, including progress—and protests—in LGBTQ-inclusive education, mixed results in Tennessee, and more same-sex penguin moms!
A Maryland middle school musical was cancelled just two weeks from its first performance. School officials say it is because of profanity in the script, but others say it is because one of the characters has gay dads.
An ongoing project in Canada has been conducting video interviews of families with LGBTQ parents and/or LGBTQ children about their children’s experiences in school. Have a look at some of the many clips from nearly 40 families.
Today marks the Day of Silence, when many students from middle school to college choose not to speak, in order to call attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBTQ bullying and harassment. Doing so feels ever more necessary, even though this past week saw some progress towards addressing the issue.
Two weeks after the state of Arizona was sued for its anti-LGBTQ health curriculum in public schools, Governor Doug Ducey (R) signed a repeal of the law.
Arizona law currently bans any instruction in its HIV/AIDS health curriculum that “Promotes a homosexual life-style,” “Portrays homosexuality as a positive alternative life-style,” or “Suggests that some methods of sex are safe methods of homosexual sex.” Several LGBTQ advocacy organizations are suing to change the harmful, archaic, and potentially deadly law.
Connecticut’s newest “Kid Governor”—chosen by fifth graders last November as part of a statewide civics program—is 11-year-old Ella Briggs, who’s proudly lesbian and ran on a platform of LGBTQ Youth Safety. The Connecticut Mirror just did a nice profile and video of her, so have a look and meet one of the young LGBTQ leaders making change today.
France’s National Assembly has passed legislation that will require schools to use “Parent 1” and “Parent 2” on all school forms, instead of “Mother” and “Father,” in order to recognize the variety of families today.
“Children raised by same-sex couples do better in school, new study finds,” said yesterday’s headline in the Washington Post. Much as I would like to believe in our kids’ general awesomeness, though, there’s more going on here than first meets the eye. Let’s take a closer look.
