Illinois lawmaker pushes for ‘nondiscriminatory’ textbooks that highlight LGBT

A bill that would require school textbooks purchased with certain state funds to highlight the contributions of LGBT individuals to American history and culture is making its way through the Illinois House.

“Historically, they’ve been ignored, and either deliberately or inadvertently left out of our history books,” said state Rep. Anna Moeller, an Elgin Democrat who is the lead sponsor of House Bill 246.

That bill, which passed out of committee Feb. 6 and is now before the full House, would require any textbooks purchased through the state’s textbook block grant program to be nondiscriminatory and include, “the roles and contributions of all people protected under the Illinois Human Rights Act,” a state law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation and a number of other factors.

The bill also provides that history books purchased by public schools under the block grant program “shall include a study of the roles and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the history of this country and this state.”

MORE: https://www.kpvi.com/news/national_news/illinois-lawmaker-pushes-for-nondiscriminatory-textbooks-that-highlight-lgbt-contributions/article_54317678-1375-531d-95fd-29b4479cf3b9.html

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