NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1230
SPONSOR: Seawright TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring LGBT aware-
ness curriculum or instruction
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To educate students as to the historic treatment of LGBT people.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 adds a new section 804-e to the education law that instructs
the commissioner, In consultation with any appropriate agency, to estab-
lish curricula or Instruction for school districts in the historical
treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender nonconform-
ing individuals. The content shall be age appropriate and shall be
developed according to the needs and abilities of pupils of successive
grade levels in order to provide information, skills and understanding
of the historic treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and
gender non-conforming individuals. Schools may include these materials
as a component of Its social studies curriculum or any other way the
school deems appropriate.
Section 2 is the effective date.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):
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JUSTIFICATION:
This bill instructs the State Education Commissioner to develop instruc-
tional or curriculum materials on the historical treatment LGBT individ-
uals for adoption by school districts. LGBT people have faced enormous
odds and deep societal rharginallzation in recent decades, which has
manifested in pervasive secrecy, shame, violence, and ultimately, activ-
ism.
Despite our Country's enormous progress toward reaching full LGBT equal-
ity today, institutional barriers and individual attitudes against LGBT
rights persist. The history of the modern LGBT rights movement is close-
ly tied to New York and particularly Greenwich Village, where the Stone-
wall riots occurred in 1969, Julius' Sip-In took place In 1966, and the
group ACT-7 UP formed to fight AIDS in 1987.
Instruction in LGBT history could cover these and other topics of
national relevance such as Anita Bryant's Save Our Children campaign -
the first organized opposition to the gay rights movement that developed
in response an LGBT antidiscrimination bill in Florida in the 1970s; or
the Briggs initiative failed California ballot initiative in 1978 that
would have banned gays and lesbians and those who supported them from
working in public schools.
Students should be exposed to the historic treatment of LGBT people
because those who do study and remember our past are doomed to repeat
and forget it. This lesson is increasingly clear as we watch certain
states and the federal government attempt to roll back hard-fought
protections for LGBT people.
Further, studies have shown that young people who learn about intoler-
ance are less likely to engage intolerant behaviors. This legislation
will provide critical tools for teachers to cover this important piece
of contemporary history. Illinois has passed similar legislation, and
California includes LGBT history in its textbooks. New York should join
them by providing instruction in LGBT history to Its students.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: A7672 (Seawright) Referred to education/ S2428 (Hoylman-Sigal)
Referred to education
2021-22: A817 (Seawright) Referred to education/ S1729 (Hoylman-Sigal)
Referred to education
2019-20: A4744 (Seawright) Referred to education/ S1478 (Hoylman-Sigal)
Referred to education
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
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EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect July 1, 2026 and shall apply school years
commencing on or after such date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1230
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 9, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SEAWRIGHT, REYES, BRONSON, LAVINE, CRUZ, OTIS,
DINOWITZ, EPSTEIN, ANDERSON, SIMON, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, WEPRIN, GLICK,
ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring LGBT aware-
ness curriculum or instruction
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 804-e
2 to read as follows:
3 § 804-e. LGBT awareness curriculum or instruction. 1. The commission-
4 er, in consultation with any appropriate agency, shall establish curric-
5 ulum or instruction for school districts in the historical treatment of
6 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender non-conforming individ-
7 uals. The contents may be varied to meet the needs of particular school
8 districts, or portions thereof, and need not be uniform throughout the
9 state. The content shall be age appropriate and shall be developed
10 according to the needs and abilities of pupils at successive grade
11 levels in order to provide information, skills, and understanding of the
12 historical treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender
13 non-conforming individuals.
14 2. Schools may include the above materials as a component of its
15 social studies curriculum or any other way the school deems appropriate.
16 § 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026 and shall apply to school
17 years commencing on or after such date. Effective immediately, the addi-
18 tion, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for
19 the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to
20 be made and completed on or before such effective date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01031-01-5
