117th CONGRESS 2d Session |
To authorize the Director of the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution to support LGBTQI+ history and women s history education programs, and for other purposes.
Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York (for herself, Mr. Torres of New York, Ms. Barrag n, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Bowman, Mr. Brown of Maryland, Ms. Brown of Ohio, Mr. C rdenas, Mr. Case, Mrs. Cherfilus-McCormick, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Connolly, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Dean, Mr. Deutch, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Garc a of Illinois, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Higgins of New York, Ms. Jacobs of California, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Jones, Mr. Khanna, Ms. Kuster, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Mrs. Lawrence, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. Lynch, Ms. McCollum, Ms. Meng, Mr. Nadler, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. Newman, Ms. Norton, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Ms. S nchez, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Mr. Soto, Ms. Stansbury, Ms. Stevens, Ms. Titus, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Trone, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Vel zquez, Mrs. Watson Coleman, and Ms. Wilson of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration
To authorize the Director of the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution to support LGBTQI+ history and women s history education programs, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the LGBTQI+ and Women s History Education Act of 2022 .
Congress finds the following:
(1) According to the New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, only 13 percent of named historical figures in textbooks across the United States are women.
(2) In 2017, the National Women s History Museum analyzed elementary and secondary education standards in social studies for all 50 States and the District of Columbia and found that approximately 1 woman was mentioned for every 3 men in these standards.
(3) The Museum also found that 53 percent of the mentions of women s history were included within the context of domestic roles, as opposed to the 20 percent that were included within the context of voting rights and suffrage and 2 percent that were included within the context of being in the workforce.
(4) Countless studies show that when youth feel seen and affirmed in their curricula, they experience improved academic engagement and achievement. In research the National Women s Law Center conducted in partnership with Latina girls in 2019, the girls reported that when they feel represented in their curricula, they feel a powerful sense of belonging and an emphasized identity of resilience.
(5) According to the National Women s History Alliance, only 3 States (Illinois, Florida, and Louisiana) have mandated that women s history be taught in elementary, middle, and high schools.
(6) According to GLSEN, only 7 States (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, and Oregon) have passed legislation in support of an LGBTQI+ inclusive curriculum.
(7) According to the Museum of disABILITY History, as of 2014, 24 States had established disability awareness curriculum for public schools or were in the process of passing legislation to do so.
(8) In March 2022, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida signed HB 1557 into law. Commonly known as the Don t Say Gay or Trans legislation, this law prevents teachers from administering instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.
(9) GLSEN reports that 9 other States in addition to Florida (Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Texas) have recently passed curriculum censorship laws that prohibit honest teaching about race, gender, or LGBTQI+ communities.
(10) According to the African American Policy Forum, at least 16 States have passed racial and gender equity curriculum prohibitions, and 15 other States are considering them.
(11) According to Education Week, at least 15 States are considering nearly 30 bills that would affect discussions or interactions with LGBTQI+ youth in schools during the 2021 22 legislative session.
(12) According to GLSEN, 4 States (Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas) have no promo homo laws in place that prevent positive and affirming representations of LGBTQI+ identities in schools.
(13) LGBTQI+ youth already experience high rates of mistreatment in schools:
(A) According to GLSEN s 2019 National School Climate Survey, over 80 percent of LGBTQI+ students ages 13 to 21 report being verbally harassed during any given school year.
(B) According to the National Center for Transgender Equality s 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, 77 percent of transgender K 12 students experienced anti-transgender mistreatment, including verbal harassment, and physical or sexual assault.
(C) According to a 2021 survey, 45 percent of intersex students reported experiencing gender-based harassment or discrimination from teachers or faculty during the 2021 school year.
(14) Nationally, only 19.4 percent of respondents to GLSEN s 2019 National School Climate Survey said they had been taught any positive representations of LGBTQI+ people, history, or events in their schools.
(15) Results from GLSEN s 2019 National School Climate Survey also indicate that, compared to students in schools without an LGBTQI+-inclusive curriculum, LGBTQI+ students in schools with an LGBTQI+-inclusive curriculum were less likely to
(A) hear homophobic slurs or negative remarks about transgender people often or frequently;
(B) feel unsafe because of their sexuality or gender identity; or
(C) miss school because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable.
(16) Women and LGBTQI+ people including those of color and those with disabilities have been and continue to be powerful agents of change in United States history. For example:
(A) Black and brown transgender women, including Marsha P. Johnson, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, Sylvia Rivera, and Storm DeLarverie were prominent leaders and participants of the 1969 protests against unjust police raids of the New York City gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, that ignited the national movement for LGBTQI+ justice.
(B) Dr. Margaret Chung, a queer Chinese American woman, advocated for Chinese Americans and women s right to vote at a time when women, particularly women of color, were denied that right.
(C) Judith Ellen Judy Heumann is an internationally recognized disability rights advocate who played a leading role in the development and implementation of major legislation, including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
(D) Alice Wong is a queer disabled activist and the founder and director of the Disability Visibility Project who served on the National Council on Disability.
(E) Ruby Bridges, a Black civil rights activist, pioneered the school desegregation movement and was among the first Black students to integrate schools in the South at the age of six. Ruby s story, particularly as it was memorialized in her children s book, Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story, continues to inspire girls across the country but was also one of the histories specifically targeted for censorship in States prohibiting honest teachings about race.
(17) Discrimination on the basis of sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity) compounds with discrimination on the basis of other identities, such as race, national identity, religious background, or disability. Within marginalized groups, compounding layers of discrimination across intersectional identities often results in the most marginalized members of a group being silenced or left out of historical narratives.
(18) All women, LGBTQI+ people, and those living at the intersection of those identities, deserve to be represented in classrooms across the country in an accurate, unbiased, intersectional, and inclusive manner.
In this Act:
(1) ESEA TERMS. The terms elementary school , local educational agency , secondary school , Secretary , and State have the meanings given such terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
(2) INCLUSIVE EDUCATIONAL APPROACH. The term inclusive educational approach means a teaching approach that acknowledges, includes, and affirms experiences of people who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color ( BIPOC ), people with disabilities, LGBTQI+ people, and all marginalized communities.
(3) INTERSECTIONAL EDUCATIONAL APPROACH. The term intersectional educational approach means a teaching approach that acknowledges, includes, and affirms the unique and compounded forms of discrimination experienced by those who live at the intersection of two or more oppressed identities.
(4) LGBTQI+. The term LGBTQI+ means sexual and gender minority populations, as defined by the Sexual and Gender Minority Research Office of the National Institutes of Health, including individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, nonbinary, Two-Spirit, and intersex.
(5) LGBTQI+ HISTORY EDUCATION. The term LGBTQI+ history education means culturally relevant (to the extent practicable), unbiased, non-discriminatory, and accurate education about the roles and contributions of LGBTQI+ individuals in order to promote representation and visibility and combat prejudice, inclusive of multiple identities within LGBTQI+ populations, including transgender, nonbinary, gender non-conforming, Two-Spirit, and intersex individuals, which have historically been marginalized within the larger LGBTQI+ population.
(6) WOMEN S HISTORY EDUCATION. The term women s history education means culturally relevant (to the extent practicable), unbiased, non-discriminatory, and accurate education about the roles and contributions of women, with a specific focus on non-domestic roles, in order to promote representation and visibility and combat prejudice.
(7) CULTURALLY RELEVANT. The term culturally relevant means, with respect to education, education that is
(A) available in multiple languages; and
(B) consistent with census data and demographics of the area in which the education will be provided.
(8) DIRECTOR. The term Director means the Director of the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution.
(a) Authorization of appropriations. There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2023 and for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.
(b) Use of funds. The Director, in accordance with any program of the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution established before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act, shall use funds appropriated under subsection (a) to carry out the following activities: <