[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 8445 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 8445
To authorize the Director of the National Museum of American History of
the Smithsonian Institution to support LGBTQI+ history and women's
history education programs, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 20, 2022
Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York (for herself, Mr. Torres of New
York, Ms. Barragan, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Bowman, Mr.
Brown of Maryland, Ms. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Case, Mrs.
Cherfilus-McCormick, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr.
Connolly, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Dean, Mr. Deutch, Ms.
Eshoo, Mr. Espaillat, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr.
Higgins of New York, Ms. Jacobs of California, Mr. Johnson of Georgia,
Mr. Jones, Mr. Khanna, Ms. Kuster, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Larson of
Connecticut, Mrs. Lawrence, Ms. Lee of California, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr.
Lynch, Ms. McCollum, Ms. Meng, Mr. Nadler, Mrs. Napolitano, Ms. Newman,
Ms. Norton, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Raskin, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Ms. Sanchez,
Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. David Scott of Georgia, Mr. Soto, Ms. Stansbury,
Ms. Stevens, Ms. Titus, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Trone, Mr. Vargas,
Ms. Velazquez, Mrs. Watson Coleman, and Ms. Wilson of Florida)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
House Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Director of the National Museum of American History of
the Smithsonian Institution to support LGBTQI+ history and women's
history education programs, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``LGBTQI+ and Women's History
Education Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) According to the New-York Historical Society Museum &
Library, only 13 percent of named historical figures in
textbooks across the United States are women.
(2) In 2017, the National Women's History Museum analyzed
elementary and secondary education standards in social studies
for all 50 States and the District of Columbia and found that
approximately 1 woman was mentioned for every 3 men in these
standards.
(3) The Museum also found that 53 percent of the mentions
of women's history were included within the context of domestic
roles, as opposed to the 20 percent that were included within
the context of voting rights and suffrage and 2 percent that
were included within the context of being in the workforce.
(4) Countless studies show that when youth feel seen and
affirmed in their curricula, they experience improved academic
engagement and achievement. In research the National Women's
Law Center conducted in partnership with Latina girls in 2019,
the girls reported that when they feel represented in their
curricula, they feel a powerful sense of belonging and an
emphasized identity of resilience.
(5) According to the National Women's History Alliance,
only 3 States (Illinois, Florida, and Louisiana) have mandated
that women's history be taught in elementary, middle, and high
schools.
(6) According to GLSEN, only 7 States (California,
Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, and
Oregon) have passed legislation in support of an LGBTQI+
inclusive curriculum.
(7) According to the Museum of disABILITY History, as of
2014, 24 States had established disability awareness curriculum
for public schools or were in the process of passing
legislation to do so.
(8) In March 2022, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida signed
HB 1557 into law. Commonly known as the ``Don't Say Gay or
Trans'' legislation, this law prevents teachers from
administering instruction on sexual orientation and gender
identity in kindergarten through third grade.
(9) GLSEN reports that 9 other States in addition to
Florida (Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Oklahoma,
New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Texas) have recently passed
curriculum censorship laws that prohibit honest teaching about
race, gender, or LGBTQI+ communities.
(10) According to the African American Policy Forum, at
least 16 States have passed racial and gender equity curriculum
prohibitions, and 15 other States are considering them.
(11) According to Education Week, at least 15 States are
considering nearly 30 bills that would affect discussions or
interactions with LGBTQI+ youth in schools during the 2021-22
legislative session.
(12) According to GLSEN, 4 States (Louisiana, Mississippi,
Oklahoma, and Texas) have ``no promo homo'' laws in place that
prevent positive and affirming representations of LGBTQI+
identities in schools.
(13) LGBTQI+ youth already experience high rates of
mistreatment in schools:
(A) According to GLSEN's 2019 National School
Climate Survey, over 80 percent of LGBTQI+ students
ages 13 to 21 report being verbally harassed during any
given school year.
(B) According to the National Center for
Transgender Equality's 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, 77
percent of transgender K-12 students experienced anti-
transgender mistreatment, including verbal harassment,
and physical or sexual assault.
(C) According to a 2021 survey, 45 percent of
intersex students reported experiencing gender-based
harassment or discrimination from teachers or faculty
during the 2021 school year.
(14) Nationally, only 19.4 percent of respondents to
GLSEN's 2019 National School Climate Survey said they had been
taught any positive representations of LGBTQI+ people, history,
or events in their schools.
(15) Results from GLSEN's 2019 National School Climate
Survey also indicate that, compared to students in schools
without an LGBTQI+-inclusive curriculum, LGBTQI+ students in
schools with an LGBTQI+-inclusive curriculum were less likely
to--
(A) hear homophobic slurs or negative remarks about
transgender people often or frequently;
(B) feel unsafe because of their sexuality or
gender identity; or
(C) miss school because they felt unsafe or
uncomfortable.
(16) Women and LGBTQI+ people--including those of color and
those with disabilities--have been and continue to be powerful
agents of change in United States history. For example:
(A) Black and brown transgender women, including
Marsha P. Johnson, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, Sylvia
Rivera, and Storme DeLarverie were prominent leaders
and participants of the 1969 protests against unjust
police raids of the New York City gay bar, the
Stonewall Inn, that ignited the national movement for
LGBTQI+ justice.
(B) Dr. Margaret Chung, a queer Chinese American
woman, advocated for Chinese Americans' and women's
right to vote at a time when women, particularly women
of color, were denied that right.
(C) Judith Ellen ``Judy'' Heumann is an
internationally recognized disability rights advocate
who played a leading role in the development and
implementation of major legislation, including the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans
with Disabilities Act, and the Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities.
(D) Alice Wong is a queer disabled activist and the
founder and director of the Disability Visibility
Project who served on the National Council on
Disability.
(E) Ruby Bridges, a Black civil rights activist,
pioneered the school desegregation movement and was
among the first Black students to integrate schools in
the South at the age of six. Ruby's story, particularly
as it was memorialized in her children's book, Ruby
Bridges Goes to School: My True Story, continues to
inspire girls across the country but was also one of
the histories specifically targeted for censorship in
States prohibiting honest teachings about race.
(17) Discrimination on the basis of sex (including sexual
orientation and gender identity) compounds with discrimination
on the basis of other identities, such as race, national
identity, religious background, or disability. Within
marginalized groups, compounding layers of discrimination
across intersectional identities often results in the most
marginalized members of a group being silenced or left out of
historical narratives.
(18) All women, LGBTQI+ people, and those living at the
intersection of those identities, deserve to be represented in
classrooms across the country in an accurate, unbiased,
intersectional, and inclusive manner.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) ESEA terms.--The terms ``elementary school'', ``local
educational agency'', ``secondary school'', ``Secretary'', and
``State'' have the meanings given such terms in section 8101 of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
7801).
(2) Inclusive educational approach.--The term ``inclusive
educational approach'' means a teaching approach that
acknowledges, includes, and affirms experiences of people who
are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (``BIPOC''), people
with disabilities, LGBTQI+ people, and all marginalized
communities.
(3) Intersectional educational approach.--The term
``intersectional educational approach'' means a teaching
approach that acknowledges, includes, and affirms the unique
and compounded forms of discrimination experienced by those who
live at the intersection of two or more oppressed identities.
(4) LGBTQI+.--The term ``LGBTQI+'' means sexual and gender
minority populations, as defined by the Sexual and Gender
Minority Research Office of the National Institutes of Health,
including individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, queer, nonbinary, Two-Spirit, and intersex.
(5) LGBTQI+ history education.--The term ``LGBTQI+ history
education'' means culturally relevant (to the extent
practicable), unbiased, non-discriminatory, and accurate
education about the roles and contributions of LGBTQI+
individuals in order to promote representation and visibility
and combat prejudice, inclusive of multiple identities within
LGBTQI+ populations, including transgender, nonbinary, gender
non-conforming, Two-Spirit, and intersex individuals, which
have historically been marginalized within the larger LGBTQI+
population.
(6) Women's history education.--The term ``women's history
education'' means culturally relevant (to the extent
practicable), unbiased, non-discriminatory, and accurate
education about the roles and contributions of women, with a
specific focus on non-domestic roles, in order to promote
representation and visibility and combat prejudice.
(7) Culturally relevant.--The term ``culturally relevant''
means, with respect to education, education that is--
(A) available in multiple languages; and
(B) consistent with census data and demographics of
the area in which the education will be provided.
(8) Director.--The term ``Director'' means the Director of
the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian
Institution.
SEC. 4. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.
(a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this Act $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2023 and
for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years.
(b) Use of Funds.--The Director, in accordance with any program of
the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution
established before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act,
shall use funds appropriated under subsection (a) to carry out the
following activities:
(1) The development and national dissemination of accurate,
relevant, and accessible national resources for classrooms to
administer LGBTQI+ and women's history education in an
inclusive and intersectional approach, which shall include
digital resources and may include other types of resources,
such as print resources and traveling exhibitions.
(2) The development, national dissemination, and
implementation of principles of sound pedagogy for
administering LGBTQI+ and women's history education.
(3) The provision of professional development services to
administer LGBTQI+ and women's history education, such as
through--
(A) local, regional, and national workshops;
(B) teacher trainings or engagement in conjunction
with LGBTQI+ and women's history education centers and
other appropriate partners;
(C) engagement with--
(i) local educational agencies;
(ii) State education agencies;
(iii) schools that are independent of any
local educational agency; and
(iv) school-based extracurricular meetings
or organizations; and
(D) development, operation, and expansion of a
teacher fellowship program to cultivate and support
leaders in LGBTQI+ and women's history education.
(4) Engagement with State and local education leaders to
encourage the adoption of resources supported under this Act
into curricula across diverse disciplines.
(5) Through an intersectional and inclusive approach,
convening experts, providing opportunities for discourse, and
engaging with the public through programming, educational
resources, and social media with respect to LGBTQI+ and women's
history education.
(6) Through an intersectional and inclusive approach,
increasing resource capacity, technical support, and content
creation to engage various audiences in person and via online
platforms with respect to LGBTQI+ and women's history
education.
(7) Creating, expanding, and disseminating scholarly work
through research, curricula, in-house and traveling
exhibitions, publications, and programming with respect to
LGBTQI+ and women's history education.
(8) Providing language translation of the work of the
Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History,
including scholarly work, research, traveling exhibitions,
publications, programming, pamphlets, and other information
distributed about activities funded under this Act with respect
to LGBTQI+ and women's history education.
(9) Expanding the collection acquisition and collection
access processes, including staffing, conservation, processing,
and digitization with respect to LGBTQI+ and women's history
education.
(10) Creating, developing, implementing, replicating, or
taking to scale entrepreneurial, evidence-based, field-
initiated innovations for museum improvement with respect to
LGBTQI+ and women's history education, and evaluating
rigorously such innovations.
(c) Online LGBTQI+ and Women's History Education Resources.--
(1) Website.--In addition to the activities described under
subsection (b), the Director shall use the funds appropriated
under subsection (a) to develop and maintain on the website of
the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American
History content designated for educators, students, and
families to improve their awareness and understanding of
LGBTQI+ and women's history education.
(2) Information distribution.--The Director shall use such
funds to distribute information about the activities funded
under this Act through the website of the Smithsonian
Institution's National Museum of American History, and shall
respond to inquiries for supplementary information concerning
such activities.
(3) Continuation of activities.--To the extent that the
Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History
is engaged in an activity described in subsection (b) or this
subsection on the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Director shall use the funds appropriated under subsection (a)
to continue that activity.
SEC. 5. ANNUAL REPORT.
(a) Report Requirement.--Not later than February 1 of each year,
the Director shall submit to the Congress and make available to the
public a report describing how the funds made available under this Act
have been used--
(1) to create and promote educational activities; and
(2) to otherwise carry out this Act.
(b) Briefings.--Not later than 6 months after the date on which
funding is first distributed under this Act, and annually thereafter,
the Director or the Director's designee shall brief the Committee on
House Administration of the House of Representatives and the Committee
on Rules and Administration of the Senate on the programs and
activities carried out under this Act.
(c) Sunset.--Subsections (a) and (b) shall cease to be effective on
September 30, 2027.
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