Instructional Resources for California Educators, Students, & Families
In this lesson students listen to the oral history of an advocate for LGBT family rights, and use her personal story as a vehicle for considering how anti-LGBT attitudes are formed. Students explore the derivation of the words “gay,” “f*ggot” and “d*ke” in order to better understand the long history of judgment and hate behind these words. They also reflect on the testimony of LGBT teens about the impact of terms like “that’s so gay.”
This lesson plan covers queer film representation from the 1920’s to 1970’s, specifically focusing on the impact of the Motion Picture Production Code, otherwise known as the Hays Code. The goal of this lesson is to explain the historical context behind LGBTQ+ stereotypes that still persist today in Western media.
Students will learn about the life and accomplishments of Harvey Milk. Harvey Milk was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in the United States. Harvey Milk used a simple problem that affected the everyday lives of San Francisco’s residents to gain support from people outside of the LGBTQ community and work on larger issues.
Students will learn about and experience the works of Audre Lorde and James Baldwin and discuss how and why someone might use their passions for activism.
Students will learn about Matthew Shepard and Brandon Teena, two young men who were murdered because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Shepard was targeted on the basis of his sexual orientation and Teena was targeted on the basis of his gender identity.
In this lesson, students research and create a timeline that illustrates how attitudes toward gay and lesbian issues have changed over the last 30 years.
Over the past several years, there has been a dramatic increase in the visibility of transgender people and the understanding of transgender issues. Polls show that most Americans believe they know what being transgender means and overwhelmingly feel that our laws should protect transgender people. At the same time, transgender and gender non-conforming people face injustice in every aspect of their lives: at home, in schools, in workplaces, in doctors’ offices and emergency rooms and in public places like grocery stores, restaurants and hotels. This lesson will provide an opportunity for high school students to learn more about transgender identity and issues, the barriers faced by people who identify as transgender or are gender non-conforming and how we can make our schools safe and welcoming for transgender and gender non-conforming students.
When police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay nightclub in Greenwich Village, on June 28, 1969, gays and lesbians fought back. This marked a turning point in the struggle for gay and lesbian rights in the United States. And more than three decades later, the struggle still continues. In this lesson, students examine the issues that now surround the quest for gay and lesbian equal rights. They explore bias and negative stereotyping in the media and their effect on how gays and lesbians are treated. Along the way, students will examine their own biases and express their opinions on the topic of gay and lesbian rights in a newspaper editorial.
This activity is designed as a fun and interactive way to raise students’ awareness of LGBT people and the contributions they made in the history of the United States. Students will learn about key events in the LGBT civil rights movement. Students will have an opportunity to create signs regarding these events to spread awareness throughout the school.
In this lesson students learn about gender identity and explore the impact of rigid gender role expectations and stereotypes. Using various media—an audio interview and a video of a spoken word performance transgender people and issues are personalized and clarified for students. Students then discuss real-life scenarios depicting conflicts around gender expression in school settings, and brainstorm ways to be an ally to transgender and gender non-conforming people.