LOS ANGELES — Police officers separated groups of protesters and counterprotesters Friday outside a Los Angeles elementary school that has become a flashpoint for Pride month events across California.
People protesting a planned Pride assembly outside the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Saticoy Elementary School wore T-shirts emblazoned with \u201cLeave our kids alone\u201d \u2014 and carried signs with slogans such as \u201cParental Choice Matters\u201d and \u201cNo Pride in Grooming.\u201d Tensions at the school have been rising since last month, when a social media page was created to urge parents to keep their children home Friday, the day of the planned assembly.
Across the nation, Pride month celebrations are kicking off amid rising backlash in some places against LGBTQ+ rights. Community parade organizers, school districts and even professional sports terms have faced protests for flying rainbow flags and honoring drag performers. While some Republican-led states are limiting classroom conversations about gender and sexuality and banning gender-affirming care, some Democratic cities and states are seeking to expand LGBTQ+ rights and to honor the community\u2019s contributions.
Los Angeles Unified School District Board Member Kelly Gonez said the assembly went on without issue. It included a reading of \u201cThe Great Big Book of Families,\u201d which includes details about different family structures including single parents, LGBTQ+ parents, grandparents and foster parents, she said.
Gonez said the school board wants to \u201clisten and to have these tough conversations\u201d with parents who don’t support the assembly.
\u201cAt the same time I think it\u2019s really important to be factual about what content was shared today, the fact that it is age-appropriate and that it\u2019s simply about providing inclusive, welcoming environments to all of our students and families,\u201d she said.
Outside the school, protesters against the assembly outnumbered those who were there in support. Some protesters identified themselves as parents of students in the district but would not give their full names during interviews, saying they had agreed not to, as a group, citing safety concerns. Broadly, they said they felt elementary school was too young to discuss LGBTQ+ issues.
Arielle Aldana, whose 6-year-old son attends Saticoy, said she didn\u2019t know about the assembly until she dropped him off at school Friday morning. She joined the protest against the assembly and said it was \u201cfrustrating\u201d that the school didn\u2019t tell parents about the topic ahead of time.
Aldana said she doesn’t feel it’s age-appropriate for elementary school, but added that she thought it would be fine for when her son is in middle school. \u201cIt has to do with where he is in development,\u201d she said.
Ray Jones, who uses the pronoun they, said they are a drag queen in North Hollywood and do not have children in the school but thought it was important to show up. Jones said they believe LGBTQ+ topics are appropriate to teach at elementary school. The demonstrators who feel otherwise, they said, are sending the wrong message to students who have LGBTQ+ parents.
\u201cI just don\u2019t stand for that in my community,\u201d Jones said.
Hector Flores and his husband picked up their 6-year-old daughter after school on Friday wearing pride T-shirts. He said their family felt supported by the counter-protesters.
\u201cAll families are different and we need to respect them,\u201d Flores said. \u201cIt all starts with a conversation and kids these days, they\u2019re growing up so quick. That\u2019s probably a topic that we should have at an early age.\u201d
An Instagram page called Saticoy Elementary Parents called Pride \u201can inappropriate topic for our kids!\u201d In one post, the page says that Christian families and those who \u201cshare conservative values don\u2019t feel this material is appropriate to teach to the children and believe it\u2019s a parents\u2019 right to choose.\u201d It\u2019s not clear who started the page, which also includes phone numbers and email addresses for district and school officials, urging parents to call them to protest the event.
In May, a transgender teacher’s small Pride flag displayed outdoors was found burned. The school notified parents, saying it was being investigated as hate-motivated.
District Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho watched the protest outside the school.
\u201cThe sad reality is that over the past two weeks, individuals who work at this school have been threatened and insulted just for being who they are,\u201d he told Fox 11. \u201cA flag that represents many members of our community was burned. That\u2019s just unacceptable. Over what? A reference of a book that represents families in our communities.\u201d
Carvalho said there’s no sex education in the book at issue.
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing but a fair representation of the reality of families in our community,\u201d he said. “When you exclude some, you are demonizing or dehumanizing some in our community. We are a diverse community, and we have to accept that.\u201d
Several other California elementary schools have found themselves at the center of debates over Pride Month celebrations.
In San Diego County, a proposal to fly the Pride flag at the headquarters of the Chula Vista Elementary School District initially died on a 2-2 vote with one member absent. But Francisco Tamayo, a board member who had originally voted no, later revived the proposal, saying he was concerned about hate speech directed at teachers, parents and students. The proposal passed 4-1 on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, city officials in Davis, California, last week removed a rainbow crosswalk created by elementary school students with chalk paint to celebrate Pride month. The parent of a former student complained about the project, employee Mara Seaton told the Sacramento Bee.
But the decoration was removed because crosswalk decorations are not allowed without prior approval and because it covered others lines on the crosswalk that were needed for visibility, Davis Police Chief Darren Pytel said. Rainbow crosswalks will still be allowed, as they typically are, in a local park for the city’s Pride celebrations this weekend, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n