Chapter 3: Breaking The Silence of Lgbtq Contributions to United States History In An Elementary Social Studies Methods Course

If anyone in my past had told me that I would someday challenge the heteronormative, curricular silence of LGBTQ¹ representation in elementary classrooms, I would not have believed them. I identify as a White, cis-gender female, former K–8 classroom teacher, and currently am a teacher educator. I grew up learning to shun “others” who lived, looked, or loved differently than “we”—White, heterosexual, monolithic, and Christians—did. Thankfully, many life experiences—far beyond the scope of this paper to describe—propelled me forward into a journey to live and think differently. I commit to a life-long process of discerning how I have come to live in the world, disrupting biases and actions that cause harm, and working alongside others in developing new ways to imagine and act to make the world better for all people. As a critical social studies educator, I will not stay silent. I join other scholars, teacher educators, classroom teachers, and teacher candidates in challenging the heteronormative, curricular silence of LGBTQ representation.