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By Danielle E. Gaines, Maryland Matters The Maryland State Department of Education will update history curricula to include lessons on the LGBT and disability rights movements after a push from state lawmakers.

Del. Eric G. Luedtke (D-Montgomery), a former history teacher, organized a letter signed by 47 lawmakers asking the department to update curricula late last month. He posted on social media Tuesday that the Department of Education would be developing new standards. The move comes as several other states have passed laws to include curriculum focused on LGBT Americans and other groups that were historically underrepresented in lesson plans.

The state of California was the first to pass a law mandating LGBT curriculum in 2011. Similar laws expanding curriculum to include LGBT and other communities took effect this year in New Jersey, Colorado and Oregon. A bill passed in Illinois is awaiting action by Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D). Other states, including Alabama, Arizona and Utah, have moved in recent years to remove restrictions on LGBT content in school curricula.

In a letter to Superintendent of Schools Karen Salmon at the end of July, Luedtke said the state's existing standards fail to address the development of civil rights for LGBT Americans and for Americans with disabilities.

"These are important stories for our teachers to tell, not only for those students who are themselves LGBT or who have a disability, but so all of our students have a basic understanding of the challenges faced by significant segments of American society," he wrote.