(WSVN) - New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has signed a new bill that requires public schools to teach LGBT and disability-inclusive material.
According to CNN, the measure is modeled after a similar bill passed in California in 2011.
The measure requires that state boards of education must add instruction that accurately portrays “the political, economic, and social contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, where appropriate.”
“LGBTQ+ history is part of our shared story, and students deserve to know it. Proud to sign a bill that makes New Jersey the second state in the nation to require an LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum in our schools,” Murphy said in a tweet.
LGBTQ+ history is part of our shared story, and students deserve to know it. Proud to sign a bill that makes New Jersey the second state in the nation to require an LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum in our schools. https://t.co/PuOxTbrzgI
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) February 1, 2019
“Young people are learning about LGBT people already in schools but their identities are hidden,” Christian Fuscarino told CNN. “Figures like Bayard Rustin, who was the right-hand man to Martin Luther King, Jr. for civil rights, was a gay man.”
Fuscarino is the executive director of Garden State Equality, which advocated for the bill over several assembly sessions.
The material will be included in the social studies curriculum for middle and high school students starting with the 2020-2021 school year.
The law will not effect private schools.
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