Preserving Queer History and History Makers in Kidlit – A Guest Post by Michael Genhart

Michael Genhart, author of Edie for Equality: Edie Windsor Stands Up for Love, joins The Open Book Blog in this guest post to discuss the importance of preserving queer history in children’s literature. 

We, the queer community, are living in politically driven, troubled times.  Efforts to ban books in schools and libraries, particularly those with LGBTQ themes, are in full swing and rising. Educators and educational institutions, especially in conservative states, are told what they can and cannot teach in school. This includes what teachers can share about their own rainbow families. Federal funds for DEI initiatives have been cut, and many corporations have cowardly rolled back their support of LGBTQ organizations out of fear of retaliation by the federal government.

At the same time, protests and marches are occurring across the country. Masses of people are speaking out against these homophobic and hateful policies. Outrage is on the rise, too. Individuals from all walks of life — socioeconomic status, religious beliefs, race, and culture — are joining together with voices united to challenge these political attempts to silence and erase queer people.

Celebrating Edie’s victory in front of the US Supreme Court Building!

We are all trying to find our own ways to join these protests. Sometimes that means marching with others while holding clever signs. Sometimes it’s picking up a pen to craft a story. As an author of picture books for children, I have been compelled to write about queer history and history makers more than ever before. Edie for Equality: Edie Windsor Stands Up for Love is my most recent book. It is a biography about how an ordinary woman fought to correct a huge unfairness in this country, did so out of love and anger, and ultimately changed history by paving the way for federally recognized same-sex marriage.

Edie for Equality: Edie Windsor Stands Up for Love is a love story at its heart.  But it is also a book about activism. It is a call to action that will hopefully inspire young readers to pay attention to unfair practices, prejudice, and discrimination — and to question how these can be corrected. Stories like Edie’s need to be told and preserved in children’s literature for all children. Exercising the power of the pen when crafting children’s books about LGBTQ history and history makers is critically important at this time — a counter punch to the current climate in this country. I hope you will join me in this fight. Let’s fill classroom and school libraries with these books to ensure that a complete history is being taught to children and that representation of the LGBTQ community is never, ever made invisible.