Local
D.C. state board calls for LGBTQ-inclusive teaching standards
Sweeping resolution proposing content in curricula approved unanimously
The D.C. State Board of Education voted unanimously on Oct. 20 to approve a resolution calling for LGBTQ+ Inclusive Education Standards for the city’s public schools that “reflect on the political, economic, social, cultural, and scientific contributions and experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.”
The two-page resolution, which was introduced by gay State Board of Education member Allister Chang, who represents Ward 2, cites national research showing that students who have access to LGBTQ+ curricula in their schools “are more likely to report lower frequency of bullying, lower levels of depression, more accepting peers, and greater feelings of safety in school.”
The resolution states that research also shows that multicultural education, including the teaching of LGBTQ topics, “helps prevent the formation of bias and prejudice and creates more democratic communities.”
LGBTQ rights advocates have long considered the local D.C. government through its mayor and City Council to be highly supportive of the LGBTQ community. But Chang and other supporters of the resolution approved by the board Wednesday night say their research shows that D.C. public schools, while supportive of LGBTQ students, are far behind the school systems in several other states in the inclusion of LGBTQ topics in school curricula.
As an example, supporters of the resolution point out that curriculum standards for social studies classes in the D.C. school system include only one mention of LGBTQ people in a teaching section related to victims of the Holocaust.
Unlike most other cities and states, under current D.C. law, the school system is controlled by the mayor through the D.C. Department of Education, which is headed by a Deputy Mayor for Education and who, in turn and in consultation with the mayor, appoints a State Superintendent of Education who oversees the day-to-day operations of the schools.
Under a change in the education statute approved by the D.C. Council and signed by then-Mayor Adrian Fenty in 2007, the school board, which was renamed the State Board of Education, became a mostly advisory body on education matters with some statutory authority to approve education standards on which school curricula are based.
Thus, the resolution approved by the board on Wednesday “advises” and “recommends” that the State Superintendent of Education develop school curricula, guidance for teachers, and school-based leaders and staff “in providing LGBTQ+ inclusive lessons and practices in their classrooms.”
The resolution concludes by recommending that the State Superintendent of Education conduct a survey of students within two years after the Oct. 20 adoption of the resolution “to establish baseline data and to gain an understanding of the current experiences of LGBTQ+ students across the district and what all students know and understand about the contributions and experiences of LGBTQ+ people in the relevant subject areas.”
Chang and other members of the State Board of Education noted at the Oct. 20 meeting, which was virtual, that Will Beckerman, who graduated this year from D.C.’s School Without Walls High School, played an important role in conducting the research used to prepare the LGBTQ standards resolution and helped in the drafting of the resolution.
Chang noted that much of the background information used to draft the resolution came from Beckerman’s senior year school research paper and advocacy project that focuses on the topic of LGBTQ-inclusive education.
In comments supporting the resolution, Chang also spoke about how the very limited LGBTQ content he encountered during his high school days helped him accept himself as a gay youth.
“As a student myself, I don’t remember a single mention of any LGBTQ people in any of my classwork until I read Thomas Mann in my senior year in high school,” Chang said. “And in Death in Venice, this Nobel Prize winner touches upon his struggles with homosexuality but never actually names it explicitly,” Chang told fellow board members.
“And I remember holding on to this novella despite the self-hatred that’s woven throughout this story because it was the first time that I saw this aspect of my identity reflected in my class work,” he said. “My hope – and I think this hope comes true with this resolution tonight – is that future generations of LGBTQ students have more opportunities to see themselves reflected in their class work and to feel less isolated by their class work than I did growing up.”
It couldn’t immediately be determined whether D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser will endorse the school system changes proposed by the resolution approved by the State Board of Education.
The full text of the resolution follows:
State Board of Education Resolution
On LGBTQ+ Inclusive Education Standards
SR21-7
WHEREAS, the 2019 District of Columbia Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that lesbian, gay, and bisexual students make up 15.9 percent of high school students in the District and transgender students make up1.9 percent of District high school students;
WHEREAS, in the District, these students, in comparison to their heterosexual peers, experience double the rate of bullying on school property, report higher rates of being removed from class for disciplinary reasons, and are more than twice as likely to experience suicidal ideation;
WHEREAS, national data shows that lesbian, gay, and bisexual students are significantly more likely to receive grades of D or F than their heterosexual peers and were more likely to be truant;
WHEREAS, consistent research suggests that students with LGBTQ+ inclusive curricula in their schools are more likely to report lower frequency of bullying, lower levels of depression, more accepting peers, and greater feelings of safety in school—and this safety leads students to report higher attendance, higher GPAs, a greater sense of belonging in the school community, and higher educational aspirations;
WHEREAS, research shows that multicultural education helps prevent the formation of bias and prejudice and creates more democratic communities ;
WHEREAS, the State Board of Education recognizes the need to have revised social studies standards that create “windows and mirrors” so students see themselves and people like them reflected in the content of standards and curriculum, as well as having the opportunity to learn about diverse people, cultures, places, and experiences unlike themselves—explicitly noting that the current standards emphasize the lives of presidents and other figures who held/hold power and under-represent or lack representation of people and groups like those identifying as LGBTQ+, and their respective histories;
WHEREAS, in the State Board of Education’s review and revision of the social studies standards, the State Board called upon the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) to “seek standards writers who reflect the demographics and experiences of District students and of the communities they are writing about” sharing a list of examples that included writers identifying as LGBTQ+;
WHEREAS, the State Board of Education is committed to ensuring students acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to be engaged global citizens in a diverse democratic society; and,
WHEREAS, the State Board of Education has a commitment to promote equity, introduce policies to reduce disparities between students, and create safe school environments for all students.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT, upon the next revision of any District of Columbia state education standards, the State Board of Education should adapt standards, when appropriate, that reflect on the political, economic, social, cultural, and scientific contributions and experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, the State Board of Education advises the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) to provide guidance to teachers and school-based leaders and staff on creating inclusive lessons in science and English language arts (ELA) classes that align with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Common Core ELA standards, respectively;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT, the State Board of Education recommends that the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) implement professional development for teachers and school-based leaders and staff to aid them in providing LGBTQ+ inclusive lessons and practices in their classrooms, such that that the professional development includes: workshops for local education agencies (LEAs) and teachers to draft curriculum related to LGBTQ+ topics in their subject areas, lessons on use of inclusive language in the classroom, lessons on ensuring LGBTQ+ students’ safety and confidentiality while maintaining respect for their name and pronouns, and mandatory diversity training related to the LGBTQ+ community; and,
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED THAT, the State Board of Education recommends that the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) survey students within two (2) years of adoption of this resolution to establish baseline date and to gain an understanding of the current experiences of LGBTQ+ students across the district and what all students know and understand about the contributions and experiences of LGBTQ+ people in the relevant subject areas.
Brikett, Michelle et al. “Sexual-orientation disparities in school: the meditational role of indicators of victimization in achievement and truancy because of feeling unsafe.” American Journal of Public Health vol. 104, 6 (2014): 1124-8. doi: 10.2105/AJHP.2013.301785
Kosciw, Joseph G., et al. “The 2019 National School Climate Survey: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Youth in Our Nation’s Schools.” GLSEN, GLSEN, 2020, glsen.org.
Camicia, Steven P. Critical Democratic Education and LGBTQ-Inclusive Curriculum: Opportunities and Constraints. Routledge Focus, 2016.
Camicia, Steven P. “Prejudice Reduction through Multicultural Education: Connecting Multiple Literatures.” Social Studies Research and Practice, vol. 2, no. 2, 2007, pp. 219–227.
socstrpr.org/files/Vol%25202/Issue%25202%2520-%2520Summer%25202007/Action%2520Research/2.2.6.pdf
District of Columbia
A room with Pride: D.C.’s LGBTQ history finds a new home at the Eaton
New suites highlight city’s queer community
Blocks away from where Frank Kameny once organized the first pickets for gay rights in Washington, a new hotel suite invites guests to relax, recharge, and revel in the LGBTQ history of the city with the capital’s first-ever Pride-themed room at the Eaton Hotel.
From the walls covered in Washington Blade archival photos from the past 50 years, to a vinyl library that spans decades and genres of music celebrated by LGBTQ fans, and little affirmations written on the mirrors, it becomes clear as soon as you open the door that this room is one of a kind.
The Blade sat down with Nina Ligon, the director of culture for the Eaton, in the suite to discuss why the boutique hotel has chosen to debut a Pride-themed room and how their unique mission-driven hospitality is at the center of it all.
Starting with how the relationship between the Blade and Eaton came to be, Ligon explained that the collaboration with D.C.’s principal LGBTQ newspaper has been around longer than she has been with the hotel.
“The Blade has always been present,” Ligon said. “It’s one of the entities here in the city that’s just always been around. When I came into my position here at Eaton, Sheldon Scott — our original director of culture who helped open the hotel — already had a relationship with Stephen [Rutgers] and other members of the Washington Blade. Through that we have been able to establish a really strong relationship in the city.”
That relationship flourished after the boutique hotel, which sees itself as more than a hotel — but a cultural hub for those wishing to explore Washington — was nominated for the Best of LGBTQ DC Awards, given out and published by the Blade.
“Beginning in 2022 we were first voted for best LGBTQ hotel in the city by the Best of LGBTQ DC Awards,” she said. “In 2023 we fell off, but that’s all right. We did get Editor’s Choice, and we’re gonna make a comeback.”
That comeback, Ligon hopes, is aided by the addition of the new Capital Pride-themed hotel suite, which used feedback from LGBTQ hotel staff to determine what went in the room.
“It’s community. We have a really great team here at Eaton, so we were able to put together a committee with anyone who wanted to be involved and have some say. And that’s not just the pride suite specifically, but World Pride in general — in our pride efforts, 365, right throughout the year. A lot of these,” she said, pointing to the walls covered in framed photos taken from the Blade archive, “are ideas that came up during those early meetings just a few months ago. There were discussions of inflatable chairs and disco balls, and I was for it. I’m here to support their creative vision. And you know, we have to involve the corporate girlies, and they’re a little more traditional than some of us. But the team really came together with some of the pieces and the timeline wall art that we’re working on.”
Ligon continued, explaining that special attention was given to ensure diverse LGBTQ experiences are represented in the room. From the pictures of LGBTQ icons like Marsha P. Johnson and RuPaul, to the music on their sound system (including Chappell Roan’s “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess” and Troye Sivan’s “Bloom”), and the quotes on the walls, their goal was to uplift the whole LGBTQ community rather than one particular identity.
“My colleague, Eduardo [Romero], who’s been just a beam of light in my life, brought this to my attention. As a Black woman, I was reading through the Blade’s archive links and was sifting through some of those and he was like, ‘Okay, yeah, these look good, but there’s some people who are missing.’ Capital Pride has been traditionally cis, white male led. He helped me, as a Black woman, to step back and say. ‘Say, oh, wait, there’s more that we can be representing here. There are more people we could be representing.’ And so I reached out to DC Black Pride to see what image imagery they may have had and what input they had. And we were able to come up with a little something.”
As the tour of the room came to a close, Ligon told the Blade what she hopes people get from staying in this suite.
“When it comes to Pride, Pride is resistance,” she said. “Pride is more than just a party. Pride is an opportunity. It started with people who were fighting for their rights and their mere existence. And so I really want people, whether they come here to party or to take a load off, I really want them to take some time to reflect and see Pride for what it is, and that first being a form of resistance as we chart the course forward into a brighter future for the LGBTQ community and for all. None of us are free until we are all free. And I hope that this will be a reflection of that.”
The Eaton Hotel is at 1201 K St., N.W.
Opinions
We must show up to WorldPride 2025 in D.C.
Boycotts offer symbolic protest, but absence creates silence
As an LGBTQI+ activist from Argentina, a country currently facing deep setbacks under an openly anti-rights government, I understand the frustration and fear many are expressing about attending WorldPride 2025 in the United States. I also understand the symbolic weight of showing up anyway.
Following the announcement by Egale Canada and the African Human Rights Coalition that they are withdrawing support for WorldPride due to the Trump administration’s anti-LGBTQI+ stance, concerns have rightly been raised about safety, complicity, and principle. These concerns must not be dismissed. But they must be responded to with a deeper strategic reflection: Visibility, presence, and collective action remain our greatest tools in confronting oppression.
Boycotts may offer symbolic protest, but absence creates silence
WorldPride is not organized by the U.S. government. It is a platform created by and for LGBTQI+ civil society — local activists, grassroots groups, trans-led collectives, BIPOC-led organizations, and everyday people building community despite hostile political environments. Boycotting this space sends a message not only to the Trump administration, but to our own movement: That when things get hard, we retreat.
History teaches us otherwise.
In 1990, amid the AIDS crisis and government neglect, activists did not boycott — they stormed the National Institutes of Health and the FDA. In 2014, when Russia passed its “gay propaganda” law, global solidarity at the Sochi Olympics became a powerful moment of protest and resistance. And in 2020, amidst a pandemic and police violence, Pride went digital but never disappeared.
If we set the precedent that global LGBTQI+ events cannot happen under right-wing or anti-LGBTQI+ governments, we will effectively disqualify a growing list of countries from hosting. That includes not only the U.S. under Trump, but Hungary, Italy, Uganda, Poland — and even my own country, Argentina, under Javier Milei. Yet ILGA World still plans to convene its 2027 conference in Buenos Aires, and rightly so. We must not surrender global platforms to the very governments that wish to erase us.
WorldPride is not a reward for good governance. It’s a tool of resistance
To those who say attending WorldPride in D.C. normalizes Trump’s policies, I say: What greater statement than queer, trans, intersex, and nonbinary people from around the world gathering defiantly in his capital? What more powerful declaration than standing visible where he would rather we vanish?
Safety is paramount, and all governments — including the U.S. — must guarantee the protection of LGBTQI+ participants. But refusing to engage is not the answer. In fact, visibility in hostile spaces has always been a hallmark of our movement’s strength. We showed up at Stonewall. We marched on Washington in 1979. We protested during the AIDS crisis, and we will show up again now — not in spite of adversity, but because of it.
We are in a global moment of rollback. Division is what our opponents want
The rise of anti-gender ideology and trans-exclusionary narratives has created fertile ground for far-right movements worldwide. In this moment, LGBTQI+ solidarity must be global, intersectional, and uncompromising. We cannot afford to fracture our own movement based on geopolitical fault lines.
Egale Canada and the African Human Rights Coalition raised legitimate criticisms — of U.S. foreign policy, immigration barriers, and systemic racism. But those issues must be confronted within WorldPride, not from outside it. We must bring those critiques into plenaries, panels, and the streets of Washington. We must create space for diasporic, racialized, and grassroots-led voices. We must use this moment to hold institutions accountable and shift the power of Pride to those most affected.
Because that is what solidarity looks like — not abandonment, but engagement.
WorldPride 2025 must not be a party disconnected from reality. It must be a protest rooted in our global truths.
Let us not cede this space. Let us make it ours.
Mariano Ruiz is the president of Derechos Humanos y Diversidad Asociación Civil in Argentina. He is also a 2019 Columbia HRAP Alumni.
Virginia
Youngkin calls on gay Va. GOP LG candidate to exit race over alleged ‘porn’ scandal
John Reid denounces ‘fabricated internet lie’ as anti-gay smear campaign
Less than a week after John Reid, the conservative gay radio talk show host from Richmond secured the Republican nomination for the office of lieutenant governor in Virginia, sensational allegations have surfaced, which he strongly denies, that he allegedly posted pornographic photos on social media.
According to the Virginia Mercury newspaper, the allegations surfaced when Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office released a statement saying Youngkin contacted Reid on Friday, April 25, and asked him to withdraw his candidacy over reports that a social media account with Reid’s username included “pornographic content” that was “shared” with others.
“The governor was made aware late Thursday of the disturbing online content,” the Virginia Mercury quotes a Youngkin spokesperson as saying. “Friday morning, in a call with Mr. Reid, the governor asked him to step down as the lt. governor nominee,” the spokesperson is quoted as saying.
Reid responded to the allegations in an early Friday evening video he posted on his campaign’s Facebook page, calling the allegations “a totally fabricated internet lie” motivated by anti-gay bias.
“I can tell you that’s not my account and anyone on the internet can open accounts with the same or similar names as other people,” he stated in his video. “It’s predictable,” he added.
“But what I didn’t expect was the governor I have always supported to call and demand my resignation without even showing me the supposed evidence or offering me a chance to respond,” Reid states in his video.
He said he will not drop out of the lieutenant governor’s race and called the allegations against him just the latest in what he said was an ongoing effort by some in the Republican Party, especially conservative Christians, to force him out of politics.
“Let’s be honest,” he said. “it’s because I’m openly gay. And I have never backed down to the establishment, and will not,” he continued in his video message. “What happened today is another coordinated assassination attempt against me to force the first openly gay candidate off of a Virginia statewide ticket.”
Reid added, “It’s shameful, and I won’t back down, even though I know the plan is for the attacks to continue in this overt effort to make me toxic.”
Reid secured the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor last week after his only rival in the Republican primary, Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity, dropped out of the race for health reasons.
By securing the nomination Reid became the first known openly gay candidate, Republican or Democrat, to be nominated for a statewide office in Virginia.
In an interview with the Washington Blade earlier this week Reid pointed out that he came out as gay in 1996 or 1997 on National Coming Out Day in his role as TV news anchor in Richmond, where he worked for 10 years.
Following that, Reid worked as a radio talk show host for the next eight years, promoting his ideas as a gay conservative Republican, up until shortly before he announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor, he told the Blade.
Reid’s video responding to the accusations against him can be accessed here.
Reid’s campaign website and statements he has released to the media acknowledge his status as a gay candidate but point out he has a long record of support for conservative Republican positions on a wide range of issues that are against the positions of most mainline LGBTQ rights organizations.
“I’m not a diversity hire,” he stated in a press release issued at the time he announced his candidacy in January. “I’m the most conservative and proven candidate running, and I’ve boldly stood up for our beliefs in a way that should make my personal life a total nonissue,” he stated.
A statement on his campaign website states “John is uniquely positioned to take the fight to the radical progressives head on as he continues his fight against boys in girls’ sports and the extreme trans agenda being forced upon our children.”
His campaign website statement on transgender issues concludes by saying, “And we must be blatant in saying that it is factually impossible for biological men or women to personally decide to change their gender. John believes in the right for grown adults to live their lives as they see fit, but not if they impose restrictions and obligations on others and not if any of their behavior sexualizes or grooms children.
A room with Pride: D.C.’s LGBTQ history finds a new home at the Eaton
We must show up to WorldPride 2025 in D.C.
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