NEW JERSEY—A new state law requiring teachers to integrate historical facts about LGBTQ individuals and people with disabilities across the curriculum in grades 6 to 12—beginning in fall 2020—has come under fire lately from public officials “who are either misinformed or leading with ignorance,” according to a sponsor of the law.
State Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-37)—one of the law’s sponsors— spoke to Northern Valley Press about two recent public officials’ comments criticizing the law mandating LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum.
The law was signed by Gov. Phil Murphy in late January 2019 and an LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum is expected to roll out in “pilot programs” in a dozen school districts in early 2020.
The law mandates LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum must begin in public middle and high schools (sixth through 12th grade) next fall.
On Jan. 31, when Murphy signed the LGBTQ-inclusive law, New Jersey became the second state in the nation to adopt a law requiring schools to teach about social, political and economic contributions of LGBTQ individuals and people with disabilities to middle school and high school students.
The law applies to charter schools but not private schools.
Anti-LGBTQ remarks
In late June, emails surfaced from Hackensack school trustee Frances Cogelja, who wrote to her superintendent, after the law passed, that she was “disgusted and appalled” by the law and wanted to know her options as a parent, specifically whether she could “opt-out” of LGBTQ-inclusive lessons.
The law provides no such “opt-out” provisions.
On Aug. 6, Barnegat Mayor Alfonso Cirulli called an LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum “an affront to Almighty God” and later noted “we’ve crossed over the line into absurdity.”
“There is no hate or bigotry intended here. Everyone has a right to live his or her life the way they want to. But no group has a right to force others to comply with their beliefs, deprive them of their First Amendment rights and strip the rights of parents as to how to morally raise their children,” said Cirulli at a public meeting.
The anti-LGBTQ comments raised awareness of a law signed in early 2019 putting New Jersey in the forefront of integrating current and historical LGBTQ individuals—such as British scientist Alan Turing, poet Walt Whitman and late New Jersey transgender activist Babs Siperstein—into curriculum to highlight the significant roles played by LGBTQ individuals.
Before Murphy signed the LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum law, it had reached his desk after approval with a 52-vote majority in the Assembly and a 27-vote majority in the Senate, drawing wide bipartisan support.
The law protects local control of curriculum content and implementation, in consultation with local administrators, educators and parents.
A statewide LGBTQ-advocacy organization, Garden State Equality, is developing a draft curriculum to be piloted in a dozen districts starting in January 2020.
Advocates stress that similar to curriculum that integrates the historical role of women and people of color, an LGBTQ curriculum should not just help LGBTQ students by showing LGBTQ role models.
Most importantly, they say, the curriculum should offer all students a comprehensive view of LGBTQ history and individuals who have helped shape important historical events and periods.
‘Leading with ignorance’
Reached Aug. 8, Huttle said she was “personally offended” by the comments made by the Hackensack school trustee and Barnegat mayor criticizing the law. As a Catholic, Huttle said she believes in God “and I do believe God is just and believes in equality because these [individuals] are just being true to themselves,” she said, referring to LGBTQ and people with disabilities.
“We’re not promoting one way or lifestyle over another… we’re just being factual” about LGBTQ contributions, she noted. Huttle said she believed such negative comments come from people “who are either misinformed or leading with ignorance.”
Huttle said Cirulli also was quoted as saying the curriculum could allow a drag queen to come to a kindergarten class. “I really take offense at that because he’s fear-mongering,” she said.
Huttle noted “we’ve come a long way from conversion therapy and saying that this [LGBTQ] is a sin,” said Huttle.
“We can’t taint this generation moving forward and we don’t need another layer of hate, intolerance and bigotry as a legacy,” she added.
Huttle said the LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum will be designed to integrate age-appropriate content on LGBTQ individuals into every subject and each school district can customize local lesson plans.
She said recent statewide celebrations of Pride Month in June “speak volumes in evidence of inclusivity…given such hatred and divisiveness throughout our nation nowadays.”
She said she hoped lessons highlighting LGBTQ and people with disabilities “can change the culture” and create “more tolerance and equality” among students.
She said schools in California who adopted LGBTQ curriculum in 2012 have shown reductions in bullying and harassment of LGBTQ students and fewer days missed by LGBTQ students because of such misbehavior.
Curriculum development
A spokesman for Garden State Equality, who received funding to help develop a model curriculum, said the curriculum “will be interdisciplinary and across all relevant subjects” to raise awareness of social, political and economic contributions of LGBTQ individuals.
“The purpose of having such a curriculum is making (LGBTQ) students feel represented as much as other students,” said Oliveira.
He said while the state’s anti-bullying law mandated an annual school-wide assembly to address bullying concerns, “it’s not enough to hold an assembly once a year. You really need to change the culture of the schools and to do that, [LGBTQ] education should be integrated in the curriculum.”
Oliveira said the early 2020 curriculum pilot program will incorporate the new lesson plans in one grade initially in each of a dozen schools.
Following a May controversy when the Archdiocese of Newark ordered a pro-LGBTQ mural painted over at Bergen County Arts & Sciences Charter School in Hackensack, due to upset Catholic parishioners, Garden State Equality selected the public charter school as the first to participate in its pilot curriculum program.
The Archdiocese of Newark owns the property leased to Bergen County Arts & Sciences for its charter high school.
The pastor at Holy Trinity Church, Rev. Paul Prevosto, labeled the mural—which depicted arrow symbols for the male gender and an interlocking circle with a rainbow heart—as “obscene.”
The pastor pointed out the nearby church shared cafeteria spaces for church-related functions and ordered the mural painted over.
‘If it saves one life’
“There’s hypocrisy no matter which way you cut it,” said Huttle about the two public officials’ resistance to an LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum.
“We have an epidemic of suicides and mental health issues in this country. This [curriculum] gives people a chance to come out and be themselves and if it saves one life, then it’s worth it,” she said.
Christian Fuscarino, Garden State Equality’s executive director, said it was critical for New Jersey schools to begin to include contributions of LGBTQ people as well as people with disabilities.
He cited such curriculum—already adopted in California—as being responsible for reducing incidents of harassment and bullying as well as facilitating a more tolerant and empathetic culture towards LGBTQ students.
Local control
“The law gives the responsibility to local school boards to design and implement the curriculum. The specific language on that point says: ‘When adopting instructional materials for use in the schools of the district, a board of education shall only adopt instructional materials which, in its determination, accurately portray the cultural and economic diversity of society including the political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people,’” said Oliveira.
Oliveira said Garden State Equality hopes to work with the state Department of Education on crafting guidelines that local boards are required to follow when implementing LGBTQ-inclusive curriculum.
According to Mike Yaple, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, the DOE is developing a plan of action to implement the new curriculum statewide, which may involve further outreach to stakeholder groups before the guidance is finalized.
Northern Valley Regional High School District Superintendent James Santana said “no formal plan of action” exists for LGBTQ curriculum development but it “will be addressed” during the upcoming school year.
Efforts to reach other superintendents to discuss plans for such curriculum were not returned by press time.