In this article, the authors explore the timely and sometimes controversial topic of gay civil rights and how the attendant issues might be taught in the social studies classroom. Many teachers shy away from teaching students about gay rights issues for a variety of reasons including personal beliefs, a lack of instructional time as a result of curricular and standardized testing mandates, and concerns that some administrators or parents may be opposed to the content. Other teachers, however, employ what are called gatekeeping strategies in order to integrate important content into their lessons, deftly avoiding real or perceived barriers. A few of these strategies include teaching content from a balanced approach, allowing students to lead the course direction periodically through democratic means, tying lesson content to academic standards or research, and connecting the lesson to universal themes such as equality and human rights. Learning about gay civil rights both in the U.S. and globally helps students understand democratic processes and realize that they are participating in history. Examining these issues through the lens of court decisions and government legislation provides a mechanism for studying gay rights in the larger context of human rights and legislative studies.