Reflections on LGBTQ History Month
Sylvie Shaffer
October is LGBTQ History Month!
Celebrated since 1994, the month was chosen to align with National Coming Out Day (Oct 11th) as well as to honor the first National March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian Rights. In recent years, it’s become a time to celebrate the achievements of LGBTQ people from all over the world, honoring a different leader daily. Rad! So, we’ve got October to celebrate LGBT(Q) Leaders, and June to honor Pride Month. So great! Two whole months to learn, honor, and celebrate LGBTQ people and history…but…what about the other ten months?
Don’t get me wrong - I’m thrilled to have these two months designated each year to shine a spotlight on LGBTQ history and Pride. But I can’t help thinking about the importance of highlighting LGBTQ history year round, and would be disappointed if families and teachers patted themselves on the back on November 1st, saying, “Well, great job! I made sure to talk about LGBTQ history and leaders in October, I can check that box! Let me just fold up my Pride Flag to tuck it away until June 1st” (Obviously if you’re reading this post, you wouldn’t do that! I’m just making a point here.)
In February last year, during an LGBTQ Affinity meeting, students called out having learned in their classes as part of Black History Month programming about famous Black Americans of the Harlem Renaissance (Alaine Locke, Countee Cullen, Richard Bruce Nugent and others) without any mention that these individuals were Queer. Several students were angry about this erasure (their word, not mine, but it's correct!) and called for assurances that future students wouldn't learn about these famous individuals of the Harlem Renaissance without mention of this facet of their/the movement's identity.
As our brilliant students pointed out: Queer history is American history, it's Black history and LatinX history, Asian history, Pacific Islander History, Indigenous history, and World history. It's a history of activism, of civil and disability rights, of legal proceedings, of equality- of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
So, yes, please celebrate October as LGBTQ History month, AND, find ways to celebrate LGBTQ history all year long, too. Here’s some suggestions to easily incorporate LGBTQ Books in your classrooms and homes year round.
JANUARY: My Footprints
FEBRUARY: “I Love You Because I Love You”, “Worm Loves Worm” and titles centering Black LGBTQ experience
MARCH: Include Trans women in your celebration of Women’s History Month
APRIL: Spring Chickens! Although it’s prose, “Mr. Watson’s Chickens” is perfect for Poetry Month, as you can talk about cadence and rhythms, repetition, onomatopoeia, and other language features common in poetry!
MAY: “Mama and Mommy and Me in the Middle” or “My Maddy” for Mothers’ Day and The Boy in the Bindi and Kapaemahu for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
JUNE: ‘Twas the Night Before Pride, and celebrate Fathers day with Tuesday is Daddy’s Day
JULY and AUGUST (Summer vacation! Roadtrip!) “Grandad’s Camper”
SEPTEMBER: Back to School with All Are Welcome and Hispanic Heritage month starts on the 15th, so celebrate with a bilingual English/Spanish book like “Antonio's Card: La Tarjeta de Antonio”
OCTOBER isn’t just LGBTQ History month, it’s also Dyslexia Awareness Month- perfect for reading “Aaron Slater, Illustrator!”
NOVEMBER (Native American History Month) “Sharice's Big Voice: A Native Kid Becomes a Congresswoman”
DECEMBER: If you’re giving gifts for winter holidays, consider shopping Pride and Less Prejudice’s affiliate store at Bookshop.org
