A Picture Book of Boston's LGBTQ+ History

Abstract

“To teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin…” (hooks, 1994). Part of respecting and caring for students, and their “souls” as hook says, is respecting and representing all parts of their identity and culture. When looking at the marginalized LGBTQ+ community, we see little representation of their history in elementary schools. Very few LGBTQ+ history resources are available for students, and none that I could find focused on my home state, Massachusetts. This gap silences the history of a whole community. My presentation will describe my process of creating a picture book designed for late elementary school students (3rd-5th graders) that presents Massachusetts LGBTQ+ history that is accessible to them. The presentation will also describe my research process learning about Boston’s LGBTQ+ history and how I told the stories of LGBTQ+ historical figures in a way that students could understand without minimizing what these advocates did for the Massachusetts LGBTQ+ community. The point of my book was not to idolize these figures but to highlight them alongside other Massachusetts historical figures like Paul Revere, Crispus Attucks, and Tom Brady. My book and presentation will give the audience a multi-view perspective of Boston’s history and will hopefully start conversations around LGBTQ+ representation in K-12 classrooms.