By next fall, millions of K-8 students in California schools may be learning from history textbooks that astronaut Sally Ride was a lesbian, Walt Whitman was gay, and a Gold Rush era stagecoach driver named Charley Parkhurst was born a woman, but lived as a man.

California earlier this month became the first state in the country to adopt textbooks that highlight the contributions of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender to the development of the state and country.

As education officials debated the content of the books, LGBT advocates clashed with some publishers about how to describe the sexual orientation of people who in the past did not “out” themselves. With the adoption of the books, California set a precedent, one historical researchers continue to wrangle over.

While it could take years for other states to formally pass a law like California’s or to adopt similar textbooks, educators throughout the country are already incorporating LGBT lessons into their classrooms, said Eliza Byard, executive director of GLSEN, a national educational organization based in New York that works to make schools "safe and affirming" for LGBT students.

"For some states, California can be an example of what is possible," she said referring to the textbook approvals by the State Board of Education. "For others, I hope their commitment to good education and the health and well-being of every child would lead them to have a more inclusive curriculum."

Read the full article about the complications of teaching LGBT history by Theresa Harrington at edsource.org.