Starting in June 2025, students in Washington will have to learn about the history of the LGBT community.
Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee signed a law requiring the state's schools, education agency and Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction to update learning standards to include lessons about LGBT history and contributions to society.
Senate Bill 5462 was introduced last year based on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives with the intention of extending "inclusive learning standards and instructional materials" to students:
The model policy and procedure should require school district governing boards, within available materials, to adopt inclusive curricula and select diverse, equitable, inclusive, and age-appropriate instructional materials that include the histories, contributions, and perspectives of historically marginalized and underrepresented groups, including, but not limited to, people of various racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, people with differing learning needs, people with disabilities, LGBTQ people (...) and people with various socioeconomic and immigration backgrounds. immigration.
Bill by Veronica Silveri on Scribd
Democratic Senator Marko Liias - sponsor of the bill - told PBS Crosscut that the purpose is to ensure that materials taught "there's this broad expectation that they'll be inclusive." Likewise, he claimed that when students "feel a connection to what they’re learning, they do better."
Six other states currently require LGBT curricula.
