June Is LGBTQ+ Pride Month!!!
News about a rising tide of dehumanizing policies and resistance to LGBTQ education across the US is heartwrenching. Yet, equity-minded educators understand the end game: teaching our students how to speak truth to power is the only way to ensure a healthy environment where all students can thrive, be their unique selves, and become active participants in our diverse democracy.
CSD aims to make our school culture, curriculum, and policy inclusive of all identities and gender expressions. We’re using gender-inclusive language; we’re acknowledging and honoring students’ identities by using the correct pronouns; and we’re creating safe spaces for students to organize.
We are optimistic when sensible state officials offer protections or guidance to encourage LGBTQ inclusiveness. For example, California and New Jersey both have recently adopted laws that require schools to teach about LGBTQ history. But we know this work has to be larger than laws and policies. We must educate students and help them build community. This isn’t just about school; it’s about creating a safe and loving world. So, teaching about issues of identity and culture is never “too much” for young people, and it’s never too soon.
For CSD parents, teachers, and caretakers trying to make a difference, keep teaching about, advocating for, encouraging, and valuing the lives of LGBTQ individuals. We’ve got your back.
See below for multiple resources you can use to achieve the aforementioned goals during this month
With this guide, Learning for Justice hopes to help teachers and school leaders make curriculum and policy decisions that include LGBTQ students and prepare all students to thrive in a diverse democracy. This guide provides resources that help school leaders ensure that all students feel safe, seen, and capable of success; help to ensure that the curriculum is as complete and representative as possible; ensure that the school climate fosters open and respectful dialogue among all students and staff; and prepare youth to engage and thrive within our diverse democracy.
https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/publications/best-practices-for-serving-lgbtq-students
Protect Black LGBTQIA+
All Black lives matter, including Black people who are queer and transgender, women and men, and non-binary people. In this month, as we celebrate LGBTQIA+ Pride, we recognize that the movement for queer and trans liberation was catalyzed by uprisings led by QTPOC (queer and trans people of color), often against police violence. In addition to the well-known 1968 Stonewall Uprising in New York (with ancestors Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and so many others), we honor the 1959 Cooper’s Donuts uprising in Los Angeles, the 1966 uprising at Compton’s Cafeteria in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, and the 1967 protest in Los Angeles at the Black Cat Tavern.
All three pre-Stonewall uprisings fought against racism, anti-trans, anti-queer police abuse, harassment, and brutality. As we declare that All Black Lives Matter, we know that we are building on a radical and beautiful legacy of resistance. Challenging ongoing racist police brutality as it intersects with anti-queer, anti-trans violence is the best way to express our collective pride this month and beyond.
A GLOSSARY OF TERMS
From the outside looking in, the ABCs of LGBTQ identities can feel overwhelming, academic, and inaccessible. But for students deprived of representation, words matter—and can open a door toward realization. To hear yourself or see yourself described for the first time can be transformational, especially if you’ve been conditioned to see yourself as abnormal. A definition can point to a community. And a community can make a kid feel less alone.
LGBTQ+ EDUCATION RESOURCES
Below is a list of relevant K-12 curriculum, children's books and other resources.
Teaching about LGBTQ+ Pride/History (Month)
There are so many resources to look through and choose from!
https://educators4sc.org/teaching-about-lgbtq-pride-history-month/
ADL: LGBTQ Pride Month and Education Resources
ADL put together an extensive list of lesson plans.
LGBTQ Pride Month Guide for Educators
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network
June is LGBTQ Pride Month, celebrated in classrooms and communities around the world. It's a great time to include LGBTQ themes and history.
https://www.glsen.org/activity/lgbtq-pride-month-guide-educators
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS RESOURCES
Social Media
Blog posts from across the Library related to LGBTQ history.
LGBTQ+ Studies: A Resource Guide
This research guide serves as an introduction into the excellent collection of LGBTQ+ resources available at the Library of Congress. In addition to high profile collections like the Frank Kameny Papers, the Library also owns a number of LGBTQ+ periodicals and primary source materials. The Library provides on-site access to a number of relevant databases and electronic resources in LGBTQ+ Studies as well.
LGBTQ+ Artists Represented in the Performing Arts Special Collections in the Library of Congress Music Division
The artistic community has always had many LGBTQ+ members, including musicians, dancers, choreographers, writers, directors, designers, and other creators. The Music Division holds a wealth of information about these LGBTQ+ artists in its performing arts special collections, which contain musical scores, correspondence, scripts, photographs and other documents of their lives and careers. This survey (PDF) brings together some of the highlights from these holdings, providing an opportunity to learn more about LGBTQ+ creators and to recognize and celebrate their artistic achievements.
LGBTQ+ Resources in Business and the Workplace
A guide to sources of information for those researching the issues that affect the economic circumstances of the LGBTQ+ community.
LGBTQ+ Studies Web Archive
The LGBTQ+ Studies Web Archive collects and preserves online content which documents LGBTQ+ history, scholarship, and culture in the United States and around the world. Sites include domestic and international non-profit organizations, journalism and news external link, creative works and expressions, historical records, and more. Collection priorities include primary sources, first-hand accounts, coverage of significant events, and essential artifacts of cultural memory. This collection seeks to illuminate LBGTQ+ voices, from margin to center.
LGBTQ Activism and Contributions--Classroom Materials
This primary source set for teachers provides photos, film footage, newspaper articles, interviews, and audio recordings from the Library's online collections that explore LGBTQ Americans' political activism and contributions to U.S. cultural life.
LOC - Arts and Sciences
AIDS Memorial Quilt Records
Documentation of the work of The NAMES Project, the largest HIV/AIDS-related grassroots volunteer organization in the country and administrator of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, the largest folk art project in United States history. The collection includes correspondence, administrative records, printed material, photographs, and audiovisual material that document the creation, marketing, and exhibition of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. Also included are records related directly to persons listed on the quilts, including correspondence, photographs, tributes, epitaphs, news clippings, and artifacts submitted by panel-makers to add context about the lives of the persons in the quilt. Digital assets of particular note are digital images of all ca. 6,000 quilt blocks and structured data containing detailed information about quilt creators, persons listed on quilts, and quilt attributes.
Video: Special Announcement on the AIDS Memorial Quilt & Archives
Blog post — AFC is acquiring the archival collection of The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt
Blog post — NAMES Project special display on view until Dec. 2
Leonard Bernstein Collection
A composer of concert music and musical theater scores, a conductor, and a pioneer in the use of television in his role as music educator, Leonard Bernstein (1918-90) was among the most well-known and influential musical figures in the second half of the 20th century. As with most things related to Bernstein, his sexuality was a complicated aspect of his life. Often outspoken on political and social issues, Bernstein used his professional influence and passion to co-produce a benefit concert for the American Foundation for AIDS Research and the first Music for Life AIDS benefit (1987). In 1989, Bernstein declined a presidential medal of honor as a protest at the National Endowment of the Arts rescinding a grant for a gay-oriented AIDS art exhibit; and in 1990 he wrote the foreword to the book, The Vinyl Closet: Gays in the Music World. All considered brave actions at the time.
The Leonard Bernstein Collection in the Music Division of the Library is vast and varied. It is also a rich source for research in gay history. In 2011 the estate donated several hundred (previously sealed) letters to add to the Bernstein Collection that reveal many aspects of gay life, particularly during the 1940s – a secretive time when it was personally and professionally dangerous to document or acknowledge homosexuality. In addition to letters from various male lovers and friends, there are letters from therapists who worked with Bernstein as he struggled to face his sexuality, and letters from his wife discussing how they might deal with his homosexuality in their marriage. The collection also contains materials regarding the, then nascent, AIDS epidemic – research, commentaries, and business papers related to Bernstein’s participation in Aids awareness and fundraising events.
Pride in the Library
This album of images on the Library of Congress Flickr account
of artists, writers, playwrights, photographers, musicians, composers, dancers and poets serves as an introduction to the rich and diverse stories of LGBTQ+ life found in Library of Congress collections.
Prints and Photographs Collections
The collections of the Prints & Photographs Division at the Library of Congress include photographs, fine and popular prints and drawings, posters, and architectural and engineering drawings. While international in scope, the collections are particularly rich in materials produced in, or documenting the history of, the United States and the lives, interests and achievements of the American people.
Researchers may browse lists of relevant subject terms such as Gay pride and Gay Rights, or search broadly across all collections/categories using a general keywords directly in the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog. The catalog provides access through group or item records to about 95% of the Division's holdings, including more than a million digital images as well as descriptions of material that can be consulted by visiting the Prints & Photographs Reading Room.
“Queer Eye” for the Library!
The cast of the Netflix series "Queer Eye" came to the Library for an on-stage conversation with Jonathan Capehart, the Pulitzer-Prize winning Washington Post columnist and MSNBC commentator. Read the blog post.
RENT Manuscripts in the Jonathan Larson Collection
RENT is one of the most prominent American musical theater works to address the impact of the HIV/AIDS crisis on the LGBTQ community. Jonathan Larson (1960-1996) was an American composer, lyricist, playwright, and performer who wrote primarily for the musical theater. The collection contains materials relating to his musicals, musical revues, club acts, films and dance works, in particular Superbia, tick, tick…BOOM!, and RENT, his successful rock musical adaptation of La Bohème. These materials include manuscript and computer-generated music scores and sketches, lyric sheets and sketches, scripts, notes, research materials, correspondence, notes and sketches for designs, production materials, programs, and press materials. In addition, the collection contains personal writings and correspondence, class and workshop notes, business papers, photographs, and books containing Larson’s annotations.
LOC - Civil Rights and Government
Bayard Rustin Papers
Bayard Rustin was an openly gay civil rights activist, social reformer, pacifist, AIDS activist and author. He was the chief organizer of the 1963 March on Washington. The papers of Bayard Rustin were presented to the Library of Congress between 1988 and 1994 as a bequest from Rustin via Walter Naegle, executor of Rustin's estate and his partner from 1977 until Rustin's death in 1987.
Frank Kameny Collection
Banned from federal employment in 1957 solely because he was a gay man, Franklin Edward Kameny became an “angry archivist.” Not only did the Harvard Ph.D. astronomer protest his firing from the U.S. Army Map Service, but he also became the central figure in confronting the federal government’s policies against the employment of gays and lesbians, particularly in positions linked to national security. Kameny collected thousands of pages of letters, government correspondence, testimony, photographs and other memorabilia. The Kameny Collection is perhaps the most complete record of the gay-rights movement in America.
Items from the Frank Kameny Collection [PDF, 42MB]
Article – “Activist and Archivist: Library Acquires Papers of Gay-Rights Pioneer”
Article – “A Moving Moment: Library Makes and Records LGBT History”
The History of Pride: How Activists Fought to Create LGBTQ+ Pride
This story map provides a historical overview of annual LGBTQ+ Pride celebrations and the connections to Library of Congress collections.
LGBTQ+ Politics and Political Candidates Web Archive
The LGBTQ+ Politics and Political Candidates Web Archive captures digital content related to LBGTQ+ political candidates and political issues and topics at various levels of government, with a focus on lesser-known local and state politics. This archive preserves a representative sample of what is being called "The Rainbow Wave," which refers to the previously unprecedented number of LGBTQ+ identified candidates openly running for office.
LGBTQ Rights Abroad – Global Legal Monitor, Law Library of Congress
Lilli Vincenz Papers
Gay rights activist, psychotherapist, and documentary film maker. Correspondence, journals, organizational files, speeches, writings, surveys and questionnaires, press clippings, printed matter, academic files, and other papers relating to Lilli Vincenz's life as a gay civil rights activist, her work to support and empower lesbians and gay men, and her documentation of the gay and lesbian civil rights movement.
Stonewall Uprising
The Stonewall Uprising of 1969 (Today in History)
LOC - Literature and Poetry
Comic Book, Web Comic and Graphic Novel Collections
The Library curates an expanding collection of digitized and born digital comic books and social media site archives, all of which contain content touching upon LGBTQ+ themes.
Kay Ryan, Former Poet Laureate
Kay Ryan has made extensive contributions to national efforts which promote poetry in the United States. She credits Carol Adair, her late partner of thirty years as a main reason for her enduring the rejections that often accompany the career of a poet. The two met while they were both teaching classes at San Quentin State Prison. The quality of Ryan’s poetry eventually lead to her appointment as a US Poet Laureate.
St. Mark’s Poetry Project Archive
The Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church was founded in 1966 in the East Village of Manhattan by, among others, the poet and translator Paul Blackburn. It has been a crucial venue for new and experimental poetry for fifty years and has hosted thousands of readings and workshops, many featuring LGBTQ writers. The Library of Congress’ Rare Book and Special Collections Division acquired the archive in 2005, which includes correspondence, financial reports, publications, flyers, posters, photographs, and over 4,000 hours of audio and video recordings. The collection is uncataloged, but accessible through the Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
Stonewall Book Awards
The first and most enduring award for LGBTQ books is the Stonewall Book Awards
Sponsored by the American Library Association's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table. Since Isabel Miller's “Patience and Sarah” received the first award in 1971, many other books have been honored for exceptional merit relating to the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered experience.
Caribbean Heritage Month
Caribbean American Heritage Month is an entire month dedicated to celebrating Caribbean culture and how it has had a positive and profound impact on American culture. The Institute for Caribbean Studies (based in Washington, D.C.) initially mounted a campaign for a dedicated Caribbean culture month in the United States in 1999. After many years of hard work, this resolution finally made its way to the Senate, thanks in part to sponsorship from Congresswoman Barbara Lee. In 2006, the resolution was finally passed and was put into law by President George Bush, who made the inaugural Presidential Proclamation. Since then, June has been a month devoted to celebrating the rich culture of the Caribbean, and the vital work that Caribbean immigrants have done to shape the United States. Furthermore, the month is also used to mount campaigns of awareness to acknowledge the financial, economic, and social disparity that Caribbean Americans still face in the United States and to redress the systemic barriers that the community continues to experience.
In the 19th century, the U.S. attracted many Caribbean transplants who excelled in various professions such as craftsmen, scholars, teachers, preachers, doctors, inventors, comedians, politicians, poets, songwriters, and activists. Some of the most notable Caribbean Americans are Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the Treasury; Colin Powell, the first person of color appointed as the Secretary of State; James Weldon Johnson, the writer of the Black National Anthem; Celia Cruz, the world-renowned "Queen of Salsa" music; and Shirley Chisholm, the first African American Congresswoman and first African American woman candidate for President, are among many.
Caribbean Americans are Americans who trace their ancestry to the Caribbean. They are a multi-ethnic and multi-racial group that trace their ancestry further in time mostly to Africa, as well as Asia, the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, and to Europe. Ninety percent of Caribbean people came to the US from five countries: Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad, and Tobago. The largest Caribbean communities are located in New York, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Texas, and California
The music of the Caribbean reflects the multicultural influences that have shaped the Caribbean and African people. The Caribbean people brought music, such as bachata, cadence rampa, calypso, chutney, compas (kompa), cumbia, dancehall, filmi, Latin trap, méringue, merengue, parang, ragga, rapso, reggae, salsa, and zouk, which has a profound impact on U.S. popular culture.
MORE RESOURCES
AFT - Caribbean American Heritage Month Lesson Plans
https://sharemylesson.com/collection/caribbean-american-heritage-month
Caribbean Immigrants in the United States
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/
West Indian Americans
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Indian_Americans
Caribbean Heritage Month
https://www.caribbeanamericanmonth.org/
Island SPACE Caribbean Museum
If you’re ever in Florida (which you currently shouldn't be if you have any melanin), we recommend you check out the Island SPACE Caribbean Museum, which is the first-ever museum solely dedicated to Caribbean history. This amazing museum hosts historical artifacts, engaging exhibits, and a Hall of Fame - with record-breaking runner Usain Bolt’s signed cleats on display.
Institute of Caribbean Studies
If you’re close to a large city, you’d be surprised at how many events are taking place. For example, the Institute of Caribbean Studies lists a Caribbean Cook-Off that takes place in Houston, Texas. Other areas, such as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have an entire Caribbean market that is free to enter. At the Philadelphia market and others like it, there are steel drum musical displays and tons of yummy food to dive into. Be sure to check out the Institute of Caribbean Studies site to find an event close to you!
https://caribbeanamericanmonth.com/
ShowMeCaribbean.com
If you are lucky enough to visit the region, you’re sure to have a trip you will never forget. But if you aren’t able to visit the Caribbean, don’t be disheartened. You can still visit… kind of. Thanks to websites such as ShowMeCaribbean.com, you can map the Caribbean and explore the island in real-time as if you were there. This is awesome for allowing visual learners to appreciate the beauty of the Caribbean - and you’ll save tons on airfare!
2023 National Caribbean American Heritage Month Official Book List
We are happy to unveil the official list of Caribbean reads for the 18th Annual National Caribbean American Heritage Month (NCAHM).
Juneteenth resources
This celebration marks a day in 1865 when enslaved Texans learned they’d be free—two months after Robert E. Lee surrendered and ended the Civil War and two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Initially a uniquely Texan observance, Juneteenth has now been recognized in some form in every corner of the country.
There are many ways to teach students about this celebration. Lessons about Juneteenth need to recognize the challenges that those who fight injustice have always faced, but they shouldn’t be marked only by the tragedy of enslavement. Students, particularly Black students, can find empowerment in the jubilant celebrations of culture, activism, and the humanity of a people.
General Resources
https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/teaching-juneteenth
Excellent PBS Lesson Plan - History of Juneteenth and Why it's Now a National Holiday
Junteenth - Zinn Education Project
Resources From Educators for Social Change
There are many resources available online for teaching students about Juneteenth. Though many consider this holiday significant, it is overlooked by many school systems; thus, it is important that educators teach students about this monumental day in their classrooms. The materials below will provide educators with information that may help students learn about Juneteenth.
Lesson Plans
Leaders 4SC Forces: Leaders 4SC provides a variety of Task Forces that provoke students to think critically about key issues as they roleplay as decision-makers and brainstorm well-detailed solutions. Each Task Force comes with step-by-step instructions, Google slide templates to be used with virtual breakout rooms, and topic-specific questions to get students started. The activities can be completed either individually or as part of a group. A fun Task Force is Reform The Justice System.
Celebrate Juneteenth!: This lesson plan from ReadWriteThink encourages students to compare the celebrations of Juneteenth and Fourth of July with a Venn diagram, in order to draw conclusions about the ways people celebrate and define freedom in the United States. There are four different websites presented, which explore Juneteenth, the Emancipation Proclamation, and other related concepts that students will find. This activity is a bit open-ended, so it may take a bit more time for educators to set it up the way they want, depending on what their goals are for the activity.
Celebrate Juneteenth 2020: Teach For America provides an abundance of teaching resources for educators to utilize in the classroom when teaching students about this important holiday. These resources include books, videos, speeches, articles, movies, lesson plans, teaching strategies, and classroom guides. Each of these materials will help students understand the history of Juneteenth and its importance in America.
17 Ways to Celebrate Juneteenth With Kids: WeAreTeachers has compiled a list of seventeen ways to celebrate Juneteenth with kids. The recommended materials on this page include books, videos, and other teaching resources. At the bottom of the page, there is a link which will bring educators to a list of 21 anti-racism videos to share with young audiences. Take a look through these resources and see if any would prove beneficial in the classroom!
Articles
Teaching Juneteenth: Teaching Tolerance has published a brief article on teaching students about Juneteenth and empowering them to advocate for change. Topics touched upon include culture as resistance, backlash to freedom, understanding emancipation, and American ideals. Ideally, through using the advice and information in this article along with other lesson plans and ideas, educators will give students the tools they need to advocate for “narratives and experiences that have been erased or forgotten.”
Juneteenth Should Be Taught In Schools: Forbes offers a short article explaining why Juneteenth should be taught in schools in the United States. Unfortunately, many Americans are unaware of Juneteenth because the holiday is not taught in their schools. This piece will further convince educators to teach students about Juneteenth and give them some insight as to why teaching this holiday in school is important.
Four Ways to Celebrate Juneteenth with Students: Edutopia provides four ways that educators can celebrate Juneteenth with students. Suggestions include hosting a debate or oratory contest, sponsoring an anti-racism demonstration, planning a field trip centered around civil rights, and inviting a community speaker who works to preserve African American history and culture.
Observing Juneteenth in 2020: The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) shares a piece on observing Juneteenth in 2020. The author writes on how this year’s celebrations will be different and provides stories (via video) which educators can use in the classroom if they want their students to learn more about “the historical context for today’s conversations around racism, freedom, and the long shadow of slavery.”
Informational Sites
What Is Juneteenth?: HISTORY provides a wealth of information on Juneteenth, specifically discussing the background of the holiday, including the Emancipation Proclamation along with the creation of Juneteenth and slavery in Texas. THere is also a video under the article on the Emancipation Proclamation which may help students better understand the abolishment of slavery.
So You Want to Learn About Juneteenth?: The New York Times provides an article explaining Juneteenth and the most common questions surrounding this annual holiday. From this article, not only will both educators and students learn the basic facts about Juneteenth, but they will also find insight into Juneteenth’s status as a national holiday, why Juneteenth became so important in 2020, and why the President Trump’s plans to hold a rally on June 19 in Tulsa, Oklahoma drew criticism. [Note: a subscription may be required to view this article.]
Juneteenth: Encyclopaedia Britannica offers a bit of information on Juneteenth, including its origins, whether or not it’s a national holiday, how it’s celebrated, how the American Civil Rights Movement affected Juneteenth celebrations, and more.
Additional Resources
What is Juneteenth?: CNN provides a one-minute video detailing the celebrations commemorating the end of slavery in the United States and the history behind Juneteenth. For educators teaching in a classroom where there are few students with knowledge of this holiday, this video may serve as a good introduction to the topic.
9 Things to Know About the History of Juneteenth: NBC presents a list of nine important facts about the history of Juneteenth. This list is a good overview of the lead-up to Juneteenth, the monumental events in Texas, and the 1980 “Emancipation Day in Texas.”
Activists Are Pushing to Make Juneteenth a National Holiday. Here’s the History Behind Their Fight: TIME has published an article on the history of Juneteenth, including its origins, the movement to make Juneteenth a national holiday, and what the holiday means today. This piece is extremely informative, providing students with relevant information on Juneteenth’s importance in today’s society.
Juneteenth | All About the Holidays: PBS provides a one-minute video on Juneteenth geared towards students in grades K-5. This clip may be a good way to introduce the concept of this holiday to students, as most are unfortunately unaware of the history behind Juneteenth and its importance to modern-day society.
This work is important.
In City Schools of Decatur, we are committed to aligning educational practices, policies, and resources to ensure that all students have access to and feel welcome to participate in high-quality learning experiences, regardless of race, socioeconomic status, gender, ability, religion, sexual orientation, linguistic diversity, or other cultural characteristics.
CSD will have achieved educational equity when ALL students have the resources, opportunities, and rigorous and relevant learning needed to enable their educational success.
We believe that educational equity requires . . .
high expectations for all students.
a culture that honors all students and staff regardless of cultural or racial background.
a culture that is reflective and inclusive of all students and staff regardless of cultural or racial background.
the systematic use of data to determine and establish an equitable allocation of resources.
the intentional development and implementation of district policies and practices with a focus on amplifying equity.
working together to eliminate predictable patterns of academic achievement based on race, socioeconomic status, and gender.
For more information about the City Schools of Decatur, please visit our home page, www.csdecatur.net.