Return to Historical, Realistic and Multicultural Fiction
This is a topic that came up last year, and Dr. Brewster said it was important for teachers to cover this in their classrooms. Diversity in sexual orientation is covered by multicultural children's literature text books, but it remains extremely controversial in many states.
In 2015 in NC, a gay teacher read a fairy tale about two princes to his students after some students used the word "gay" in a derogatory way. Parent protests led to him (and his principal) resigning their jobs. One parent called the fairy tale: "Psycho-Emotional Rape." However, in states like California and Iowa, sexual orientation is a required part of sex education.
"LGBT Books for Parents, Students" - 22 states require schools to teach sex education and only 12 require schools to cover sexual orientation (2014).
Requirements for Sex Education by state.
If you are looking for resources to address LGBTQIA identity through Children's Literature (and in the classroom), here is a place start:
However comfortable or uncomfortable you feel addressing sexual orientation in the classroom, anti-bullying policies may make this an issue that you have to face.
Break into groups and develop THREE questions and answers that will illustrate critical thinking about the chapters we read for this class OR other material we covered in lecture. Post them in the comment box below.