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Students ask North Clackamas board to add LGBTQ+ history to social-studies curriculum
Summary
Two Clackamas High School seniors told the North Clackamas School District board that teaching queer history would reduce stereotypes, improve safety and benefit all students and asked the district to adopt inclusive resources and materials.
Two Clackamas High School seniors urged the North Clackamas School District board on May 8 to expand social-studies instruction to include LGBTQ+ history.
Eugene Gannon, a senior at Clackamas High School, told the board he is a transgender bisexual man and said teaching queer history “benefits straight people and non-trans people as well.” He said inclusive instruction can halt stereotypes and correct false information students pick up outside the classroom.
Parker McCord, also a Clackamas High School senior, backed that request and cited national research, telling the board “queer students make up roughly 7 to 10% of American youth” and that inclusive history improves attendance and grade-point averages for queer students. McCord also said the Oregon Department of Education requires queer-inclusive education and pointed the board to teacher resources from groups such as GLSEN and History UnErased.
The speakers asked the district to consider curricular resources and noted logistical challenges for teachers: finding age-appropriate, standards-aligned materials and classroom-ready lesson plans. McCord said they created a curriculum aligned to Oregon standards as an AP research project and offered to share it with world-history teachers.
Board members thanked the students and noted that requests for curricular change follow established district processes for materials adoption and review.
The district did not make an adoption decision during the meeting; speakers asked the board to consider the subject during curriculum review cycles and to increase teacher access to vetted materials.
