Washington makes school curriculum more 'inclusive' by adding LGBTQ+ history

Washington State legislators have passed a bill that will put LGBTQ+ curriculum in schools, and Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee has signed it into law.

Senate Bill 5462 was recently approved by the state House of Representatives and Senate, and Inslee signed it Monday. It requires the state's education agency, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to update learning standards to include lessons on LGBTQ+ history and contributions.

The bill also creates curricula for other underrepresented groups, including racial and ethnic groups, those with disabilities, and varying socioeconomic backgrounds. It encourages diversity in all topics, even sciences and math — for example, fictional people in practice problems are suggested to be diverse in race and gender instead of being solely white men.

The updated standards aim to make queer students feel included and secure, while also encouraging all students' interest in contemporary topics. The bill's sponsor, Democratic Sen. Marko Liias, told a Washington PBS outlet that when students "feel a connection to what they’re learning, they do better."

“That’s really the spirit of the bill," he said.

More than 550 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were introduced across the U.S. in 2023, and 80 were passed into law. Less than three months into 2024, 479 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced, many of which restrict or outright prohibit LGBTQ+ curriculum in public schools, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. In Florida, K-12 teachers who include queer subjects in lessons are at risk of losing their licenses.

While some teachers in Washington already include LGBTQ+ topics in their lessons, the new policy creates a standard across the state to ensure the subjects reach students. The new law will also ensure educators are protected for engaging with such topics, though they have not been punished for doing so in the state previously.

Curriculum is still ultimately approved by school boards based on the state's standards, giving districts flexibility to highlight certain topics based on their relevance to their local communities.

“We still are empowering our local school districts to do the important work of finding curriculum and materials that are appropriate for the community,” Liias continued. “We just want to make sure that there’s this broad expectation that they’ll be inclusive.”