Resources

This Pride Month, we celebrate the histories, cultures, and contributions of LGBTQIA+ Americans. We invite you to expand your knowledge and awareness of the experiences and histories of people in the United States who are LGBTQIA+: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual/aromantic, and members of the community who identify with a sexual orientation or gender identity that isn’t included within the LGBTQIA acronym.  From lesson plans to movie recommendations, our resource list can help get you started. There is a section specifically dedicated to resources for children at the bottom of the list in our “Kids’ Corner”!

Articles 

1. The Experiences, Challenges and Hopes of Transgender and Nonbinary U.S. Adults  (Pew Research Center)
2. Gender and Sexuality Development Program Resources [Resources for families and adolescents] (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia)
3. The Gender Unicorn (Trans Student Education Resources [TSER])
4. Guide to Being a Straight Ally (Straight for Equality – PFLAG National)
5. How Educators Can Better Support LGBTQ Teachers of Color (Edutopia) 
6. The Neighborhood: A Virtual Hub for LGBTQ+ Families (Family Equality) 
7. The Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People (ACLU) 
8. Shedding Light on the Experiences of LGBTQ Students: Sobering Data and Reasons for Hope (WestEd) 
9. Supporting LGBTQIA+ Communities in Schools (MAEC)
10. Teachers as LGBTQ Allies (Accredited Schools Online) 
11. TT’s New LGBTQ Best Practices Guide (Learning for Justice) 
12.  Understanding transgender people, gender identity and gender expression (American Psychological Association)
13. Who is Pauli Murray? [1910-1985] (Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice) 

Books 

1. Brown and Gay in LA: The Lives of Immigrant Sons by Anthony Ocampo
2. Celebrating Trans & Non-Binary Voices Book List (Diverstories) 
3. Cruising Utopia, 10th Anniversary Edition: The Then and There of Queer Futurity, by José Esteban Muñoz  
4. D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins
5. Everything Is Beautiful, and I’m Not Afraid: A Baopu Collection, by Yao Xiao 
6. Giovanni’s Room, by James Baldwin 
7. Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers
8. On Being Different: What It Means to Be a Homosexual, by Merle Miller 
9. Queer: A Graphic History, by Dr. Meg-John Barker and Jules Scheele  
10. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
11. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches, by Audre Lorde 
12. The Transgender Studies Reader 2, by Susan Stryker 

Lesson Plans  

1. LGBTQ+ History Lessons [9-12] (Out for Safe Schools) 
2. LGBTQ Pride Month and Education Resources [K-12] (ADL) 
3. Educator Resources [K-12] (GLSEN)
4. Toolkit for Sex, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression [K-2] (Learning for Justice) 
5. Urbanization & Gender [8-11] (One Archives Foundation)  
6. What’s So Bad About “That’s So Gay?” [3-5, 6-8] (Learning for Justice) 
7. “Ya’ll Better Quiet Down”: Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ Pioneers (TeachRock.org)

People to follow on social media   

1. Alok Vaid-Menon – @alokvmenon (Instagram, Twitter) 
2. Blair Imani – @blairimani (Instagram) 
3. Eli Erlick – @elierlick (Instagram)  
4. Liz Sohyeon Kleinrock – @teachandtransform (Instagram)  
5. Schuyler Bailar – @pinkmantaray (Instagram) 

Webinars & Videos 

1. Engaging Families of Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth (National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center) 
2. Ignorance Isn’t Bliss – Why We Need LGBTQ Education [Grace Jones] (TEDxTalks)  
3. On Coming Out (TED)
4. Out (Disney)  
5. School Mental Health Professionals Supporting LGBTQ Youth (GLSEN)  
6. This is What LGBT Life Is Like Around the World [Jenni Chang and Lisa Dazols] (TED) 
7. Thriving, Not Just Surviving webinar series (MAEC) 
   • Centering the Needs of Transgender and Non-binary Students at School  
   • How Teachers & Counselors Can Support Trans & Non-binary Students at School  
   • How Administrators Can Support Trans & Non-binary Students 

Podcasts 

1. Gender Stories 
   • Every body has a relationship with gender… What’s your story? In this podcast Alex Iantaffi, author of “How to Understand Your Gender: a practical guide for exploring who you are” will reflect on how gender impacts different areas of our lives, such as relationships, spirituality, parenting and more. 
2. LGBTQ&A Podcast
   • LGBTQ&A features weekly interviews with the most interesting and influential members of the LGBTQ+ community. Past guests include Pete Buttigieg, Roxane Gay, Kate Bornstein, Laverne Cox, and Trixie Mattel.  
3. Making Gay History
   • Calling all history buffs: This podcast is all about weaving the rainbow thread back into history. In each episode, host Eric Marcus, author of a book by the same name, interweaves exclusive interviews, his own storytelling, archival footage to cobble together snackable (~30 minutes or under!) reports on the queer icons who paved the way from 1945 and onward.  
4. Nancy
   • Stories and conversations about the queer experience today. Prepare to laugh and cry and laugh again. 
5. Queer America Podcast
   • Queer America is an exploration of the history of sexual identity and gender identity in the United States. Leila Rupp and John D’Emilio host this new podcast—a resource from Learning for Justice to help educators integrate LGBTQ history into their curriculum. 
6. The Queer Family Podcast
   • Jaimie Kelton humorously explores the age-old question: What’s it like to live as an LGBTQ family in a world built for the straights? The mission is to normalize, elevate and celebrate, while confirming that we’re just like other parents, trying not to yell at our kids when they still haven’t put their shoes on and we’re 25 minutes late for school.
7. Queersplaining
   • Queersplaining is a podcast that explores the lives of LGBTQ folks. Each week is a dive into the ways our queerness and/or transness affects the way we navigate the world. 

Pop culture that is inclusive of LGBTQIA+ people

Movies and TV shows can provide a window into the lives and cultures of the characters depicted in ways that can both dismantle and reinforce cultural stereotypes. When consuming movies and TVs shows that depict characters and cultures different from your own, be careful not to allow the dramatization to nurture harmful stereotypes. No cultural dramatization can fully represent the spectrum of human qualities, characteristics and cultures of any particular group of people. 

Movies & Documentaries  

1. Brokeback Mountain [R] (2005)
   • Set against the sweeping vistas of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, this film tells the story of two young men – a ranch-hand and a rodeo cowboy – who meet in the summer of 1963 and unexpectedly forge a lifelong connection, one whose complications, joys and tragedies provide a testament to the endurance and power of love.
2. The Color Purple [PG-13] (1985) 
   • A black Southern woman struggles to find her identity after suffering abuse from her father and others over four decades.  
3. Moonlight [R] (2016)
   • A young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and burgeoning adulthood.
4. Major! (2015)
   • This is the story of one woman’s journey, a community’s history, and how caring for each other can be a revolutionary act. 
5. The Most Dangerous Year (2018) 
   • In 2016 a small group of families with transgender kids joined the fight against a wave of discriminatory anti-transgender legislation that swept the nation and their home state. With the help of a coalition of civil rights activists and ally lawmakers, these families embarked on an uncharted journey of fighting for their children’s lives and futures in this present-day civil rightsstory. 
6. Paris is Burning [R] (1990)
   • A chronicle of New York’s drag scene in the 1980s, focusing on balls, voguing and the ambitions and dreams of those who gave the era its warmth and vitality. 
7. The Prom [PG-13] (2020)
   • A troupe of hilariously self-obsessed theater stars swarm into a small conservative Indiana town in support of a high school girl who wants to take her girlfriend to the prom. 
8. To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar [PG-13] (1995)
   • Three drag queens travel cross-country until their car breaks down, leaving them stranded in a small town. 

TV Shows 

1. Black Lightning [PG-14] (2017-2021) 
   • A crusading school principal gets back into action as the original African-American electrical superhero.  
2. The Fosters [PG-14] (2013)
   • Heartwarming drama about foster teens and their two moms.  
3. Heartstopper (2022-) 
   • Teens Charlie and Nick discover their unlikely friendship might be something more as they navigate school and young love in this coming-of-age series.  
4. One Day at a Time (2017-2020) 
   • Follows three generations of the same Cuban-American family living in the same house: a newly divorced former military mother, her teenage daughter and tween son, and her old-school mother.  
5. Pose (2018-2022) 
   1. In the New York of the late 80s and early 90s, this is a story of ball culture and the gay and trans community, the raging AIDS crisis and capitalism.  
6. Schitt’s Creek (2015-2020) 
   • When rich video-store magnate Johnny Rose and his family suddenly find themselves broke, they are forced to leave their pampered lives to regroup in Schitt’s Creek. 
7. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (2023)
   • Betrothed against her will to King George, young Charlotte arrives in London on her wedding day and faces scrutiny from the monarch’s cunning mother.
8. Versailles (2015 – 2018)
   • In 1667, 28-year-old all-powerful king of France, Louis XIV, decides to build the greatest palace in the world – Versailles. But drained budget, affairs and political intrigues complicate things.

Kids’ Corner 

Books 

• I Am Jazz, by Jazz Jennings and Jessica Herthel, illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas 
• My Two Moms and Me, by Michael Joosten and illustrated by Izak Zenou 
• Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution, by Rob Sanders and illustrated by Jamey Christoph 

Movies 

• In a Heartbeat (2017) 
  • A closeted boy runs the risk of being outed by his own heart after it pops out of his chest to chase down the boy of his dreams. 
• Love, Simon [PG-13] (2018)
  • Simon Spier keeps a huge secret from his family, his friends and all of his classmates: he’s gay. When that secret is threatened, Simon must face everyone and come to terms with his identity. 
• The Mitchells vs The Machines [PG] (2021) 
  • A quirky, dysfunctional family’s road trip is upended when they find themselves in the middle of the robot apocalypse and suddenly become humanity’s unlikeliest last hope. 

TV Shows 

• The Owl House (2020-2023) 
  • Accidentally sent to the world of the Boiling Isles before a trip to summer camp, a teenage human named Luz longs to become a witch, with the rebellious Eda and pint-sized demon King at her aid.  
• Steven Universe [PG] (2013-2019)
  • A team of intergalactic warriors fights to protect the universe, but the combination of three highly trained beings and one quirky young boy leaves the team struggling to overcome the dangerous scenarios that are put in front of them. 
• Rosaline [TVY7] (2016) 
  • The story of Rosaline incorporates LGBT themes in a fun, fairytale adventure through the woods. To find her sweetheart, Rosaline must first get by a tricky witch, a hungry wolf, and a well-intentioned fairy godmother! This story for children and adults alike emphasizes the value of being true to yourself.