Students Deserve To Know How LGBT People Shaped California

California would not be the great state it is today if it weren't for a few key historic events.

The settling by indigenous tribes, of course, got the region off the ground, while the establishment of Mexican provincial governments and subsequent battles with the nascent United States altered its course.

And the Gold Rush uncovered vast amounts of wealth, which helped give the state its nickname, the Golden State, and the rise of Hollywood too proved essential to California's development.

And then there was the LGBT rights movement, which helped establish California as a beacon for people of all colors and creeds. Unfortunately, for too long that historical period has gone ignored by official history lessons.

That may soon change, though, for the state Senate this week passed the Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act, legislation that would include LGBT contributions in the state's history curriculum.

The act, introduced by openly gay state Senator Mark Leno, will provide students with an even-handed portrayal of how LGBT Californians contributed to the state's growth, particularly during the gay rights movement, and also adds sexual orientation and gender identity to schools' anti-discrimination stipulations.

“Most textbooks don’t include any information about LGBT historical figures or the LGBT civil rights movement, which has great significance to both California and U.S. history,” explained Leno in a press statement. He also described historic exclusion as "selective censorship" which "sends the wrong message to all young people."

But this act, which now heads to the state Assembly rules committee, isn't simply about history, though. It's about honoring the men and women who helped make the state great, while also teaching the next generation of citizens that leaders come in all shapes, sizes, and sexualities, thus reducing the discrimination and hatred that has plagued generations of LGBT youth.

Said Leno, "We can’t tell our youth that it’s okay to be yourself and expect them to treat their peers with dignity and respect while we deny them accurate information about the historical contributions of Americans who happened to be LGBT.”

Leno and his allies have done a great thing -- one that I would love to see emulated across the nation as a whole. In the meantime, though, I'd be content to see the state Assembly approve the FAIR Education Act, and I imagine you do, too, reader.

If my assumption proves correct, you'll join me in urging California's Assemblymen and women to pass Leno's landmark legislation, because it would be an injustice for LGBT Americans' role in California's history to go unnoticed any longer.

Image via Bancroft & Ivy's Flickr