Bringing LGBTQ History into the Classroom:
A Partnership between Making Gay History, History UnErased, and the NYC Department of Education


“WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO SIT HERE!” — Grade 8

The “We Have the Right to Sit Here!” CIVIC (Connecting Individual Voices to Intersecting Concepts) Inquiry Kit explores the use and effectiveness of nonviolent and nonverbal protest through analysis of a 1983 LGBT rights incident and subsequent court case involving Deborah Johnson and Zandra Rólon. Their story, which frames discriminatory policies and practices related to sexual orientation and gender within the broader Civil Rights Movement, is brought to life through archival audio oral history testimony from the Give Voice to History Project, produced in partnership with the Making Gay History podcast.

Explore the online flipbook of the teacher component of the “We Have the Right to Sit Here!” CIVIC Inquiry Kit here.

Download the teacher component of the “We Have the Right to Sit Here!” CIVIC Inquiry Kit here.

Explore the online flipbook of the student component of the “We Have the Right to Sit Here!” CIVIC Inquiry Kit here.

Download the student component of the “We Have the Right to Sit Here!” CIVIC Inquiry Kit here.

Listen to the Give Voice to History Project oral histories connected to the “We Have the Right to Sit Here!” CIVIC Inquiry Kit below.


“WE THE PEOPLE” — Grade 11

The “We the People” CIVIC Inquiry Kit expands the American Civil Rights Movement to include Gay Rights and the LGBT movement. It brings this story to life through archival audio oral history testimony from the Give Voice to History Project, which is produced in partnership with the Making Gay History podcast. In their own voices, trailblazers of the LGBT civil rights movement, including Perry Watkins, Morty Manford, Sylvia Rivera, and Ellen DeGeneres, explain how discriminatory laws, policies, and cultural practices led them to intentional or incidental activism.

Explore the online flipbook of the teacher component of the “We the People” CIVIC Inquiry Kit here.

Download the teacher component of the “We the People” CIVIC Inquiry Kit here.

Explore the online flipbook of the student component of the “We the People” CIVIC Inquiry Kit here.

Download the student component of the “We the People” CIVIC Inquiry Kit here.

Listen to the Give Voice to History Project oral histories connected to the “We the People” CIVIC Inquiry Kit below.