By: Akua Devall
The Montgomery County Board of Education has approved a first ever LGBTQ+ history class, which will attempt to comprehensively chronicle the queer community and its contributions to the world through various lenses such as art, activism, sociology, and current events, coming after a unanimous vote to create the new course.
According to Mark Eckstein, the head of the LGBTQ subcommittee of the Montgomery County Council of PTA, the course is believed to be the first in the region,maybe nation, to offer a course on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender history and culture.The elective course is expected to become a staple class in two high schools by the 2021 Spring semester, and eight by the 2021-2022 school year, but the incorporation of this class into the county’s curriculum will attempt to do much more than promoting inclusivity. “This class truly shows that not only is Montgomery County accepting of different situations and backgrounds and people but is willing to teach everyone about the human rights and backgrounds of many of these people in the first place,” Nate Tinbite, Student Member of the Board stated. As an avid supporter of the class, Tinbite will hope that students taking the class will truly “have a understanding and hopefully an appreciation of their LGBTQ+ counterparts because this mindset can truly change the future of the workplace and the future of every social atmosphere.” Him and other student advocates for the class highlight that these efforts aim to show marginalized students that they are not only represented, but celebrated for their uniqueness ,differences, and that they are surrounded by peers and teachers that are all-inclusive in the classroom. “Oftentimes, people are gradually introduced to the LGBTQ+ community through personal experience, but learning about the importance of a frequently persecuted group from an educational standpoint they believe will possess numerous benefits, “Uma Fox, co founder of MocoPride, stated.
The first unit centers around identity and terminology-information about how people construct identities and describes identities in different places and times. The second unit is Resistance and Resilience, which will focus on LGBTQ history in the U.S., including the gay liberation movement, the AIDS crisis and LGBTQ subculture. The third unit will include culture in all forms, from literature, film, music or visual art, about and created by LGBTQ individuals. For the fourth and final unit, each student will choose a present day topic, like transgender students in athletics, whether dress codes at school are gender-neutral or LGBTQ rights in different countries, to create an advocacy project around. MCPS has displayed its dedication to being more progressive and sets a model that other districts and counties are being pressured to follow. Junior Nakati Sany states“I feel like people will be educated properly on what it truly means to be apart of the LGBTQ+ and will help confront misunderstood stereotypes about them as well,” states junior Nakati Sany.
