Another controversy around LGBTQ education in public schools erupted in Huntington Beach, California recently as students groaned over a Pride Month video while a teacher could be heard threatening the class with Saturday detention if they continued to be “inappropriate” during the showing.
In a viral video clip that appears to be taken by a student from the back of a classroom, images of Pride flags can be seen playing from a projector while audible annoyance can be heard by many of the young viewers. The video clip appeared to show a female couple kissing before a student shouted, “Why are you showing this to kids?”
The teacher wasn’t having it:
“I’ll warn you guys now, if you’re going to be inappropriate, I will have to provision down and give all of you a Saturday school for next year. So knock it off.”
Robby Starbuck, who posted the original clip, added that 10th-grade students have come forward telling him that the Pride Month video was shown in all classes that day, not just the math class from the video recording. He said students are upset about being forced to watch the video.
Pride Month, the traditional monthlong LGBTQ celebration in June, has created an unusual furor among parents and students who have pushed back as changes to education and accommodations at public schools have gone further, ostensibly to make gay and transgender students and staff feel more comfortable. The changes have provoked massive protests and heart-wrenching testimony from female high school students who feel their voices are being silenced as administrators change policies about restroom access and female sports. In one instance, an official compared parents opposed to LGBTQ education with genocidal state actors.
As more conservative states have taken steps to ban drag shows on public property, judges have pushed back arguing the law changes are discriminatory. President Joe Biden has voiced his support for the LGBTQ community, saying it contains the “bravest and most inspiring people I’ve ever known,” despite maintaining that marriage was “between a man and a woman” as recently as the early 2000s. The White House drew rebukes over the weekend for putting the American Flag on an equal level with the Pride Flag in an observation on White House grounds.