LGBTQ+ History
For all of us, learning an LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculum can help us better understand our world and our differences. For LGBTQ+ students in particular, it can mean feeling safer at school and hearing homophobic and transphobic remarks less frequently, according to GLSEN research. That's why we're sharing the resources below, from an interactive timeline and coloring book to many other classroom resources.
Recognizing these benefits, former GLSEN Chapter leader Rodney Wilson, with the support of GLSEN's founder Kevin Jennings and many others, founded LGBTQ+ History Month in October 1994. While you can use these resources every October, they're perfect for use all year, so that students see the benefits year round.
A great resource you can use to learn and teach about LGBTQ+ history is Making Gay History, the critically acclaimed and award-winning podcast that brings LGBTQ +history to life through the voices of the people who lived it. Listen to the podcasts below to hear about the lives and legacies of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, who were participants in the New York Stonewall riots in 1969.
Listen to LGBTQ+ Trailblazers
LGBTQ History Coloring Book
A perfect activity for elementary school students and adults alike, this coloring book features leaders and groundbreaking events in LGBTQ+ American history.
This book features these fearless leaders:
- We'Wha
- Bayard Rustin
- Compton Cafeteria Riots
- Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera
- Marriage Equality and Edie Windsor
- Laverne Cox
Student Resources
These LGBTQ+ students shared their stories about how their identities are affected and represented historically.
Educator Resources
- Unheard Voices, recommended for grades 6-12, an oral history curriculum project that highlights the stories of nine important people in LGBTQ history
- Alan Turing: True to Himself, a resource for secondary educators for including the father of the modern computer in the classroom
- He Continues to Make a Difference: Commemorating the Life of Matthew Shepard, a resource for high school educators
- History Unerased, which is offering free academic inquiry kits for various grade levels during October
- Quist, an LGBTQ+ history education organization focused on using creative tech solutions to teach “quistory” in youth-friendly ways
- LGBTQ Heritage Theme Study, a publication of the National Park Foundation
- Making Gay History: The Podcast
- Stonewall Out Loud Toolkit
- OUTWords History videos