LGBTQ+ HISTORY LESSON PLANS
Our lesson plans on LGBTQ+ history are developed in partnership with K-12 teachers, using primary sources from the ONE Archives at the USC Libraries. Aligned to Common Core standards and California’s History-Social Science Framework, these resources are produced in collaboration with our partners at the UCLA History-Geography Project and the LA LGBT Center through our summer teacher symposia.
These lesson plans support implementation of California’s FAIR Education Act. California law requires that the experiences and contributions, both historical and contemporary, of the LGBTQ+ community, people of all genders, people of color, and immigrants are positively included in history/social studies instruction, from kindergarten through twelfth grade.
We invite educators to explore, download, remix, and teach the lesson plans featured below.
New lesson plans, including resources for K-8 teachers, will be published in 2025.
For inquiries about lesson plans and our K-12 teacher symposia, please email Trevor Ladner, Director of Education Programs, at [email protected].
EXPLORE LESSON PLANS
AIDS & HIV Activism
Why and how did activists respond to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s?
Grades 11-12, U.S. History/Government/Civics
Audre Lorde
How do power and privilege impact relationships between people and with institutions?
Grades 11-12, U.S. History/Civics/Government
Bayard Rustin
How did Bayard Rustin’s identity shape his beliefs and actions?
Grades 11-12, U.S. History/Civics/Government
Black Cat Riots
What caused the Black Cat Tavern Riots?
Grade 11-12, U.S. History/Civics/Government
Daughters of Bilitis
How did “The Ladder” magazine provide lesbian women support in the 1950s?
Grade 11, U.S. History
FAIR Education Act
What are students’ rights to LGBT representation in the classroom?
Grade 12, Civics/Government
Harvey Milk
How did Harvey Milk and the Briggs Initiative unite marginalized groups?
Grades 11-12, U.S. History/Civics/Government
Hollywood, 1920s–1930s
Were LGBT Americans welcome in Hollywood during the 1920s and 1930s?
Grades 9 & 11, California History/U.S. History
LGBTQ Civil Rights
Was the movement for LGBT rights part of the broader movement for Civil Rights?
Grades 9, 11-12; California History/U.S. History/Civics/Government
LGBTQ Equality, 1950–1970
How did the movement for LGBT equality go from assimilation to “coming out” in the 1950s – 1970s?
Grade 9 & 11, California History/U.S. History
Magnus Hirschfeld
How did Magnus Hirschfeld support and advocate for LGBT people?
Grade 10, World History
Urbanization & Gender
How was gender challenged during urbanization in the late-19th Century?
Grades 8 & 11, Geography/U.S. History
Vietnam War
How did LGBT Americans respond to the Vietnam War?
Grade 11, U.S. History
World War I
What role did female impersonation play in allowing soldiers to explore their identity?
Grades 8 & 11, U.S. History
LGBTQ Freedom of Speech
How did One, Inc. v. Olesen (1958) expand freedom of speech for the LGBTQ+ community?
Grades 11-12, U.S. History/Civics/Government
American Psychiatric Association
How did the Biltmore Invasion lead to the de-pathologization of homosexuality?
Grade 11, U.S. History/Psychology
We want to thank the following teachers for their work in creating these LGBTQ+ History Lesson Plans: Elana Goldbaum, Hala Dillsi, Sasha Guzman, Miguel Covarrubias, Eunice Ho, Chris Lewis, Emily Waldron, Marika Manos, Peta Lindsay, Oliver Treanor Miska, Aditi Doshi and Israel Calderon.