Educator Resources
Supportive educators make a difference in kid’s lives! Being supportive can be as simple as displaying a Safe space sticker and poster in your room or creating a Safe Space environment. Check out the resources on this page for more ways to be the one who makes sure LGBTQ+ students feel safe, welcomed and encouraged to learn.
Definition of a Safe Space
A Safe Space is intentionally designed to be a welcoming, supportive, secure and inclusive environment that is free from discrimination and harassment.
Research shows that LGBTQ students with supportive educators feel safer at school, have better attendance and earn higher grades.
A simple way to let students and families know that your school welcomes everyone is to integrate books into your curriculum that reflect the diversity of your classroom and the world.
The California HSS Framework contains a number of references to the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) Americans to California and United States (U.S.) history throughout its grade level chapters.
California Health Education Framework
California is working to ensure that every classroom is a safe learning environment and every student has access to the information they need to grow into a healthy adult. The 2019 Health Education Curriculum Framework for California Public Schools, Kindergarten through Grade Twelve (Health Education Framework) is a guidance document that districts may use when developing health education programs for students.
Local & State Resources
We are the Merced LGBTQ+ Alliance. A group of dedicated and passionate community members who strive to create a safe space for everyone through education, advocacy and community events!
Every day GLSEN works to ensure that LGBTQ+ students are able to learn and grow in a school environment free from bullying and harassment. Together, we can transform our nation’s K-12 schools into the safe and affirming environment all youth deserve.
Offers information related to many laws and policies pertaining to LGBTQ+ advocacy, inclusion, and protections with relevant curriculum guidance where applicable – from actual copies of legislation to FAQ documents.
This website is dedicated to “Teaching LGBTQ History” which primarily focuses on providing resources and materials that fulfill the requirements put forth by the FAIR Education Act with regards to LGBTQ history.
The ONE Archives Foundation has partnered with the UCLA History-Geography Project to host Professional Learning Symposiums and provide LGBTQ history lesson plans for educators at no cost. The lesson plans comply with California’s FAIR Education Act, which requires California K–12 schools to integrate fair, accurate, inclusive and respectful representations of the LGBTQ community and people with disabilities into their social studies and history classes.
National Resources
Offers information related to many laws and policies pertaining to LGBTQ+ advocacy, inclusion, and protections with relevant curriculum guidance where applicable – from actual copies of legislation to FAQ documents.
Offers a plethora of resources expressly for educators and students alike. Some of its better known resources/programs include the Safe Space Kit, Solidarity Week, Day of Silence, and No Name Calling Week. Its biannual National School Climate Survey is the largest one of its kind surveying roughly 17,000 students.
History Unerased’s Mission is simple: putting LGBTQ history in its rightful place — the classroom.
Featured Reports chronicle numerous issues affecting LGBTQ across the U.S.. Equality Maps provide LGBTQ Equality progress by state including progress for students. Messaging Guides are research-based and are designed to help positively direct discussions related to advancing LGBTQ equality.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, across the United States. The Lifeline is comprised of a national network of over 180 local crisis centers, combining custom local care and resources with national standards and best practices.
A program of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation that focuses on support at the elementary school level and offers a plethora of resources for educators.
Assembly Bill No. 493
CHAPTER 775
An act to add Article 2.7 (commencing with Section 218) to Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, relating to teachers.
[ Approved by Governor October 12, 2019. Filed with Secretary of State October 12, 2019. ]
The California HSS Framework contains a number of references to the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) Americans to California and United States (U.S.) history throughout its grade level chapters.
- California HSS Framework Chapter 20, “Access and Equity,” (PDF) includes a section on meeting the needs of LGBT students in the HSS classroom, found on pages 24–25.
- References to LGBT history are found primarily in the eleventh grade U.S. history chapter but can be located in three places:
- Chapter 14, “Grade Nine—Elective Courses in History Social Science,”
- Chapter 16, “Grade Eleven—U.S. History and Geography: Continuity and Change in Modern U.S. History”
- Chapter 17, “Grade Twelve—Principles of American Democracy”
California Health Education Framework
California is working to ensure that every classroom is a safe learning environment and every student has access to the information they need to grow into a healthy adult. The 2019 Health Education Curriculum Framework for California Public Schools, Kindergarten through Grade Twelve (Health Education Framework) is a guidance document that districts may use when developing health education programs for students.
- Chapter 7, “Access and Equity,” includes a section specifically on meeting the needs of LGBTQ+ pupils, found approximately on pages 37– 43
- Content and pedagogy for meeting LGBTQ+ students’ needs is woven throughout this framework
To review the Fair Act statute, please visit the California Legislative Information
web page. Frequently Asked Questions: regarding Senate Bill 48 are also available.Resources to Support Implementation of the FAIR Act
Teaching LGBTQ History
: This website provides resources and lesson plans for teaching LGBTQ history and fulfilling the requirements of the FAIR Act.LGBTQ History Month in October
: These are specific resources for the October LGBTQ history month.ONE Archives Foundation
states that its professional development opportunities empower educators to diversify their curricula and create an affirming learning environment. The foundation’s goal is to ensure that LGBTQ history is visible and accessible to kindergarten through grade twelve (K –12) students and educators through free and low-cost resources.All instruction and materials in grades K–12 must be inclusive of LGBTQ students. Instruction shall affirmatively recognize that people have different sexual orientations and, when discussing or providing examples of relationships and couples, must be inclusive of same-sex relationships. (EC Section 51933[d][5]
) Instruction must also teach students about gender, gender expression, gender identity, and explore the harm of negative gender stereotypes. (EC Section 51933[d][6] ) The California Healthy Youth Act also prohibits sexual health education classes from promoting bias against anyone on the basis of any category protected by EC Section 220, which includes actual or perceived gender and sexual orientation.For information on the California Healthy Youth Act, EC sections 51930–51939, please visit the California Legislative Information
web page. More information regarding the implementation of The California Healthy Youth Act is available on the California Department of Education (CDE) Frequently Asked Questions: California Healthy Youth Act
web page. Additional information and resources regarding the California Healthy Youth Act, is available on the CDE Comprehensive Sexual Health & HIV/AIDS Instruction
web page.Please visit the CDE Frequently Asked Questions related to the implementation of School Success and Opportunity Act web page
for more information. regarding application of California’s anti-discrimination statutes to transgender youth in schools. guidance for changing a student’s gender in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data (CALPADS), and guidance for changing a student’s legal name in CALPADS.
