During my sophomore English class, my teacher assigned a presentation on real life heroes who changed history. Throughout the presentations, I heard familiar names such as Winston Churchill and Rosa Parks.
One name I didn’t know was a brave figure named Harvey Milk. The student explained how he changed the LGBTQ+ community positively, and I was in immediate shock that in all my years of school, I didn’t learn about this man who was an activist for gay rights.
I am one of many students who attend a public school where teachers don’t routinely teach LGBTQ+ history. This issue came to mind when I noticed a post that Illinois passed a law that requires all public schools to teach such history in 2020. In all honesty, I wanted to jump out of my seat with excitement for Illinois.
However, I began to wonder: why wasn’t LGBTQ+ history being taught at TCHS or other public schools in California? I then learned that California was actually the first state to pass the law on July 14, 2011. Since California isn’t teaching LGBTQ+ history, the state is saying the topic doesn’t matter. We need to tell the truth of the times when figures such as Harvey Milk and Barbara Gittings fought against such hatred.
If we don’t tell this history, we are not leaving space for students of all ages who are struggling to come out. However, if we educate students on how these activists impacted history in the gay community, we are then allowing a space for students to express themselves.
Many disagree and believe that by bringing up this history, the content will interfere with students and staffs’ religious values, claiming that such sensitive topics will offend those who have opposing religious beliefs. But when schools fail to consider other students’ values, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community, their actions are equivalent to omitting black or women’s rights history in classes.
I should not have had to wait to learn about Harvey Milk in my sophomore year. I hope one day that our schools in Temple City can make the change that Illinois has. We need to understand that the more we teach students about the LGBTQ+ community, the more likely that everyone will open their arms to see one another as family, not as an enemy.
If you still don’t know who Harvey Milk or Barbara Gittings are, I would suggest asking your teacher to teach a lesson. It is the law after all.
TCHS School Newspaper