Historical Overview and Theoretical Perspectives of LGBTQ+ Themes and Awareness Within the United States K-12 Education System

Abstract

This chapter seeks to centralize the practical applications of mirrors/windows theory within K-12 curricula, pedagogies, and training. In order to inform the basis for this historical overview, these authors looked to the history of LGBTQ+ themes and awareness within the United States' K-12 education system. Purposeful educational advocacy for LGBTQ+ identities, voices, and representations within can be bolstered by viewing previous perceptions, practices, and pedagogies that shaped LGBTQ+ existences in past decades. The authors of this chapter pinpoint the 1990s as a theoretical cornerstone of contemporary advocacy for LGBTQ+ students while the 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s mark notable shifts in educational curricula, question societal norms in tandem with previously nonexistent resources for LGBTQ+ advocacy, and provide more equitable training for educators. Based on these findings, the authors assert that genuine advocacy for LGBTQ+ identities within K-12 education can best be accomplished by building frameworks fueled by the theoretical implications of mirrors/windows theory.