California will be the first state to use LGBT-inclusive history textbooks in schools

The California State Board of Education approved 10 textbooks for kindergarten through eighth-grade students that include coverage of the historical contributions of LGBT people, and rejected two that failed to include such coverage.

via LA Times

The rejected textbooks failed to abide by California’s 2011 FAIR Education Act. The law, written by former state Sen. Mark Leno, requires that schools teach about historical figures who were LGBT or who had disabilities.

Equality California‘s executive director, Rick Zbur, called the board’s decision a “long-fought victory.”

“Approval of these textbooks means that California schools will now have access to approved materials that accurately represent LGBTQ people, and Equality California applauds the State Board of Education for this historic decision,” Zbur said.