Students Have A Right to Know

by

John J. Dunphy

(published in the 8/17/19 edition of The Telegraph of Alton, IL)

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on August 9 signed into law the Inclusive Curriculum Bill, which made Illinois the fourth state in our nation to mandate that LGBT history be taught in its public schools. The measure takes effect on July 1, 2020.

“In public schools only “ this new law states, “ the teaching of history shall include a study of the roles and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the history of this country and this state.” Illinois public school textbooks “authorized to be purchased under this Section must include the roles and contributions of all people protected under the the Illinois Human Rights Act.” The bill also includes a mandate that is already in effect: the teaching of history shall include “a study of the role of labor unions and their interaction with government in achieving the goals of a mixed enterprise system.”

In other words, this measure is both pro-LGBT as well as pro-union. Is it really surprising that so many Illinois conservatives find it repugnant?

GOP legislators strongly opposed the bill. State rep. Tom Morrison, a Republican from Palatine, asked, “How or why is a historical figures’ sexuality or gender self-identification even relevant?” Darren Bailey, a Republican state representative from Louisville, said he opposed the bill “because it does not provide an ‘opt out’ option for parents who do not wish their children exposed to this kind of information for religious reasons.”

I would remind Morrison that the Stonewall National Monument in New York City commemorates the Stonewall Inn riots of 1969, which many historians date as the genesis of the gay rights movement in the United States. The Stonewall Inn was a gay bar whose patrons fought back when the police raided the place. It would be rather difficult to teach students about that event without mentioning the “historical figures’ sexuality.”

Bailey opposed the bill because it didn’t contain an “opt-out option.” Would he and other conservatives approve of allowing the students of creationist parents to opt out when biology instructors teach evolution? While such parents are certainly free to denounce evolution as the devil’s work, they should not be allowed to deny their children access to the truth.

Students have a right to learn about evolution. They also have a right to learn about LGBT history. In a secular nation such as ours, religion should never trump education in public schools.

Illinois public schools are already required to teach students about the role played by labor unions in our nation’s history. Most Republicans hold unions in contempt and believe our nation would be better off without them. Their support for union-busting measures such as “right to work” are part of their campaign to destroy the American labor movement.

Should conservative parents have the right to yank their children from classes that teach how unions secured American workers freedom from poverty and exploitation? I think Illinois students should learn the history of the labor movement and its many martyrs, especially as it pertains to the Prairie State. Teach them about the Chicago Haymarket defendants in 1886, who were railroaded to prison or the gallows for a crime they didn’t commit. Teach them about the twelve union coal miners killed in Virden in 1898, when workers stood up to armed Pinkertons determined to break their strike. Teach them about labor activist Mother Jones, who is buried in the Union Miners’ Cemetery in Mount Olive. Teach them about the ten unarmed union supporters who were shot to death by Chicago police on Memorial Day 1937 during the Little Steel Strike.

Both unions and the LGBT movement have played pivotal roles in securing justice and equality for Americans. Illinois students — indeed, all students — have a right to know this.

John J. Dunphy is the author of “Abolitionism and the Civil War in Southwestern Illinois” and “Unsung Heroes of the Dachau Trials: The Investigative Work of the U.S. Army 7708 War Crimes Group, 1945–1947.”