The so-called parents’ rights movement in education took off in 2021 with the election of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, putting identity-related issues in the school curriculum front and center. The bogeyman of critical race theory was weaponized by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who called it “state-sanctioned racism” and made it the first target in the “anti-woke” campaign.
But the political right has fixed its gaze on LGBTQ issues in schools. The reason for this shift is obvious: Anti-LGBTQ animus is still socially acceptable. Following this shift, there has been a sharp uptick in anti-LGBTQ legislation nationwide.
Even in deep blue California, school boards have recently passed parental notification policies that require school district staff to inform parents if their children are transgender. And a proposed ballot initiative would restrict the rights of transgender youth by prohibiting gender-affirming care and requiring gender-segregated facilities to be restricted based on a person’s sex assigned at birth.
The reality is that LGBTQ issues in schools are a thorny problem, and Californians are intensely divided on what to do about them. To gauge the depth of the current division and pinpoint the key contentious issues, the University of Southern California conducted an in-depth national survey. While the main report focused on national trends, the results had some important nuances in California.
At the elementary level, California Republicans overwhelmingly oppose LGBTQ inclusion, with most scenarios having just 10%-20% Republican support in elementary schools. In contrast, majorities of Democrats are comfortable with some LGBTQ scenarios like talking about different kinds of families, a book about a same-sex penguin couple, or even an openly trans teacher, but not others.
None of these issues had majority support overall, however.
There is also a split on what’s appropriate in high school. Only three scenarios had majority support among Republicans for older children: talking about equal marriage rights, a teacher having a picture of a same-sex spouse on their desk, and talking about the difference between biological sex and gender identity.
California Democrats, meanwhile, expressed majority support for every single LGBTQ-related scenario researchers asked about. Most scenarios had majority overall support, but trans-related issues like pronoun use and trans athletes were often underwater.
Every California school and district is going to have parents who are Democrats and others who are Republicans. School boards and district leaders therefore need help resolving these differences.
LGBTQ children exist. That’s a given, and teachers aren’t about to adopt practices they believe will harm these students. Teachers overwhelmingly want to create classrooms where children feel included and welcomed. Behind closed doors, that’s exactly what they’ll do.
But these findings indicate real debates about what topics to include in the curriculum and in what grades. The survey’s results point the way toward a productive conversation about what kinds of LGBTQ-related content Californians view as appropriate for children, which is necessary given the FAIR Education Act requires age-appropriate LGBTQ inclusion.
It seems in the elementary grades that most Californians are not comfortable with LGBTQ issues in schools, though issues related to families are the least objected to. Schools will have to tread lightly to implement responsive curricula that do not provoke backlash.
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At the high school level, there is more broad-based support for LGBTQ inclusion, though trans issues are still a sore spot.
California is a trailblazer when it comes to inclusion in the curriculum, which is admirable. LGBTQ children deserve to have their identities represented in schools. But while tremendous progress has been made on Californians’ attitudes, many are still uncomfortable with schools being a site for debating LGBTQ issues.
While red states ban these conversations, California education leaders can help the nation see what a careful, responsive strategy looks like to include these issues in ways that may push the envelope but parents can ultimately support.
Morgan Polikoff is an education professor at the USC Rossier School of Education and the co-faculty director of the USC EdPolicy Hub. Polikoff wrote this column for CalMatters.