Adults in a Burlington, Massachusetts, community are calling for “action” in response to middle school children tearing down Pride banners and chanting “U.S.A. are my pronouns.” The principal of the school reacted to the students’ choice of rebelling against pride month by saying, “When one individual or group of individuals’ beliefs and actions result in the demeaning of another individual or group, it is completely unacceptable.”
“The Burlington community is calling on town leaders to take action in the wake of a recent middle school incident during which students disrupted a Pride event,” reported Boston.com.
(Photo by Belinda Jilao/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 05: A young attendee watches the city of West Hollywood’s Pride Parade on June 05, 2022 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Sarah Morris/Getty Images)
On June 2, students at Marshall Simonds Middle School reportedly disrupted the school’s so-called “spirit day” celebration for Pride Month, which was sponsored by the school’s Spectrum Club, an LGBT student group.
As part of the event, Spectrum Club had decorated the school with signs that read, “Happy Pride Month,” as well as posters with messages such as “Why it’s not ok to say ‘That’s so gay,’” according to a letter sent to parents from the school’s principal Cari Perchase, obtained by Boston.com.
They also put up rainbow streamers and Pride flag banners, and handed out rainbow stickers, as well as encouraged students and faculty to wear rainbow-colored clothing.
But some students reportedly reacted by tearing down the banners and signs, behavior that the Marshall Simonds Middle School principal referred to as “inappropriate.”
Other students chanted, “USA are my pronouns” in the hallways, and wore red, white, and blue clothing and face paint instead of the suggested rainbow-colored attire, the letter added.
Middle school administrators responded by calling the students’ actions “completely unacceptable,” and said it was “demeaning” to other students while also likening it to violence.
“I fully respect that our diverse community has diverse opinions and beliefs. I also respect individuals’ right to express their opinions through clothing choices and freedom of speech,” Perchase wrote.
“When one individual or group of individuals’ beliefs and actions result in the demeaning of another individual or group, it is completely unacceptable,” the principal added.
Perchase went on to say that she stands in solidarity with the students and faculty that were allegedly impacted by the student-led protest.
“I am truly sorry that a day meant for you to celebrate your identity turned into a day of intolerance,” the principal wrote. “Schools are supposed to be a safe place for ALL students and faculty.”
“Some community members’ actions created an unsafe environment for many of our students, caregivers, and faculty,” Perchase added.
Burlington Public Schools Superintendent Eric Conti also responded to the children’s protest, saying in a letter to parents that the alleged increase in anti-LGBT violence in the country “has no place in our schools.”
After that, the Burlington Equity Coalition, a group of local non-profits trying to advance the LGBT agenda, demanded that town leaders “take action,” Boston.com reported.
The group is calling on the middle school to discipline the children involved in the protest, and hire a diversity, inclusion, and equity (DEI) director for the school district.
This is not the only time in which students reacted unfavorably to LGBT propaganda being shown to them in their school.
Recently, a video surfaced online showing students from a high school in California vocally objecting to having to watch a Pride Month video in their math class.
Watch Below:
Parents from Edison High School in Huntington Beach, California are making a video go viral. Their students were forced to watch a pride video in Math class. When the students were uncomfortable with it, the teacher threatened them with weekend detention.https://t.co/6l7MyJCMO5 pic.twitter.com/VZqLc51zQH
— Eagle Wings (@CRRJA5) June 12, 2023
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.