A transgender teacher at a Los Angeles elementary school recently discovered his Pride flag had been vandalized and burnt.
LGBTQ+ Pride Month
The incident occurred earlier this year in the lead-up to Pride Month and amidst tensions between conservative parents and the school district. Pride Month is celebrated every year in June and is a chance for LGBTQ+ people to celebrate their history, culture, and rights.
A Hate Crime
The teacher in question, a transgender man, had displayed a rainbow Pride flag in a flower pot. The flag was found burnt and the pot was destroyed. The Los Angeles Police Department believes the crime occurred over the weekend prior to the burnt flag’s discovery and Officer Tony Im confirmed that the incident was being treated as a hate crime.
The School Wasn’t Safe for the Teacher
The Los Angeles Unified School District decided to remove the teacher from Saticoy Elementary School on the basis of safety concerns. Moreover, his picture was removed from the school’s website in an attempt to protect his identity and avoid backlash from transphobes.
The School Released a Statement
The school released a statement to parents. It read: “We experienced a break-in over the weekend at Saticoy Elementary that resulted in vandalism and is being investigated as a hate-motivated incident. We are cooperating with law enforcement. This is a reminder that we rely on our entire school community to keep our school safe and secure by reporting any suspicious activity on campus after hours. If you see something, say something.”
The Definition of “Transgender”
The definition of “transgender” is “an individual who does not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth.” As such, non-binary people also fall under the trans umbrella. The definition of “non-binary” is “anyone who is not 100% a man, or 100% a woman, 100% of the time.” There’s a long-standing misconception that to be transgender one must have already medically transitioned. This is incorrect; anyone who doesn’t identify with their AGAB (assigned gender at birth) is trans.
Conservative Parents Were Protesting Pride Month
The flag-burning hate crime occurred during protests by conservative parents, who made an Instagram account to promote a boycott of the school’s Pride Month assembly. The assembly was designed to teach kids about same-gender couples in an age-appropriate way, a vital part of education; if you teach kids about the existence of gay people, you prevent bigoted views from forming and being passed down by parents.
Withdrawing Kids From Classes With Trans Teachers
The conservative Instagram account was used to encourage parents to keep their kids at home on the day of the educational assembly. One post read: “Keep your kids home and innocent on Friday to boycott Gay Pride Spirit / Rainbow Day Assembly.” Parents allegedly also withdrew their children from classes taught by a transgender substitute teacher.
Staff Were Upset by the Bigotry
Staff were upset by the relentless, unapologetic bigotry. One staff member, who preferred to remain anonymous, said: “It was awful. I get that people have freedom of speech and the ability to believe and have their own opinions – but when it directly [affects] the livelihood of another person, it’s unconscionable.”
The Instagram Account Doxed Staff Members
The conservative Instagram account went on to post the faces, names, and contact details of school administrators and city officials, something known as “doxing.” Doxing is the act of publishing personal identifying information on the internet without consent from the concerned individuals.
The Assembly Went Ahead
Despite the protests, the school’s assembly went ahead. The director of the San Fernando Valley LGBTQ Center, Renato Lira, attended the vent and said that the children thoroughly enjoyed the assembly. Teachers read from a book on all types of families, including ones with same-gender parents. He said: “[We] wanted to show our love [and] respect. We’re united.”
Conservative Commenters Weren’t Happy
The story was shared across social media and conservative commenters felt victimized. “Let me see if I understand this correctly. You can burn the flag of our country, the flag that thousands have fought and died for to keep our nation safe. But burning a rainbow flag is a hate crime? Really?” one person wrote. “You can’t burn property you don’t own,” another hit back. “The US flag doesn’t represent a minority group,” another added. A fourth said: “It was stolen and destroyed with the intent to harass or intimidate the person who was flying it. If you burned your neighbor’s St. Francis statue, you would be under the same investigation because the burning of St. Francis specifically would suggest you were trying to intimidate or harass them for being Catholic. This is a really simple concept.”
Others Called Out the Right’s Hypocrisy
Some online commenters called out the right’s hypocrisy when it comes to things like freedom of speech. One person wrote: “Right-wing nuts be like, ‘I have the First Amendment right to say whatever I want. If you disagree with what I say then you have no rights. You must read what I want, be taught what I want, say what I want, and be what I want.’”
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