ABSTRACT
We know that having curriculum that is inclusive of sexual and gender diversity in schools matters. In K-12 schools with such inclusive curriculum, queer and gender diverse students were less likely to hear “gay” used frequently or in a negative way; less likely to hear homophobic remarks like “fag” or “dyke”; less likely to hear negative remarks about gender expression or transgender people often or frequently; less likely to miss school because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable; more likely to report that their classmates were somewhat or very accepting of LGBTQ students; and overall felt more connected to their school community (Kosciw, et al., 2016). In short, queer students fared far better in schools where sexual and gender diversity were part of the curriculum. And students saw the difference. Students noticed when they saw themselves, or could be themselves, in the curriculum, and they could articulate the positive impact this had on their sense of safety and inclusion (Snapp, Burdge, Licona, Moody, & Russell, 2015). In spite of these clear benefits, however, only 22.4% of students experienced positive representations of LGBTQ people or topics in the curriculum, and 17.9% were actively taught negative content about LGBTQ people, with less than half having any access to LGBTQ-related materials in their school libraries (Kosciw, et al., 2016).
