Two school districts in California banned the display of LGBTQ+ pride flags, moves that were praised and criticized by local residents, according to The San Jose Mercury News.
The school district in Sunol, a town with a population of less than 1,000 in Alameda County, on Tuesday, approved a resolution to prevent the local elementary school from flying an LGBTQ+ pride flag. Some residents who opposed the decision said they were considering moving to recall the two of the three school board members who voted for the ban.
Temecula, a city of just over 100,000 in Riverside County, also voted on Tuesday to restrict the flags that can be flown on school property, but the resolution does not ban specific flags, stating: "No flag other than the United States of America and State of California may be displayed on school grounds, including classrooms, unless it is a country, state, or United States military flag used solely for educational purposes within the adopted curriculum."
According to Mercury News, more than 100 people waited outside the open session of the Temecula school board's meeting to voice their support or opposition to the rule, which many saw as a way to ban LGBTQ+ flags without having to specify them as prohibited.
"It's just unreal, they way that they are chipping away at the humanity of kids of color, kids on the LGBTQ spectrum, anyone who isn't their white evangelical, in their church — they other them," said Jennifer San Nicolas, a local mother with two children in Temecula Valley schools.
Another resident, Ryan Waroff, said: "This isn't anti-LGBTQ, this isn't anti-trans. We live in America, and in America, we're allowed to be whatever we want, but let's unite under the one unifying goal, that's 'We're all Americans.' I would like to see us come back to that."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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