College Board President Defends Order to Take away LGBTQ Pleasure Flags by Evaluating Them to Ones ‘Supporting White Supremacy’

An Indiana School Board of Trustees president comes under fire after defending the board’s order to remove LGBTQ pride flags from three classrooms at Pendleton Heights High School. Last week, the school district ordered the flags removed from French, Spanish and arts classrooms, claiming they were in violation of a policy banning “political paraphernalia,” the Herald Bulletin reports.

After an uproar, President of the South Madison Board of Trustees, Bill Hutton, sent a district-wide email to students, families and school staff comparing the LGBTQ pride flag to flags promoting “other groups,” including those who do “Support white supremacy”.

“The problem with displaying the flag in a school is a double-edged sword. If an LGBTQ + flag is allowed to display, every other group has the same ability, ”explained Hutton. “This could include flags like support for white supremacy, which is in direct conflict with LGBTQ +. Hope we can model equality and support through our actions. “

But, as many have noted, comparing LGBTQ to white supremacist beliefs does not support equality.

The arrangement of the board of directors and Hutton’s defense seem to expose what at least one student calls a lack of support for LGBTQ equality.

“LGBT students, including Tai Wills, disagree that the flags are political,” reports the Herald Bulletin.

“Why should you compare a racist flag?” Wills, a 16-year-old student at Pendleton Heights High School, said. “These two have nothing to do with each other.”

“One is about inclusivity and the other is about hatred and exclusion, and I think that’s not the same thing at all,” she noted. “It’s hard to deal with bullying and judgmental children, and now you can’t even have a flag that says, ‘We’ll support you in the classroom.'”

The Herald Bulletin added, “Wills said she was concerned about the mental health and educational success of her classmates. In the schools of South Madison there were a number of suicides and suicide attempts in all grades in the 2018/19 school year, some of which involved LGBT students. “

In reality, Wills said, Pendleton Heights didn’t support its LGBT students. For example, she founded the Gay-Straight Alliance last year, but was told she couldn’t post leaflets and raise money like the other clubs.

“Their only excuse was,” It’s a sensitive issue, “adds Wills.” It didn’t really feel like we were a club because we weren’t allowed to do much. “

Bryce Axel-Adams, Junior of Pendleton Heights High School, “started an online petition to have the flags displayed again. He had hoped for several dozen supporters – he had received almost 3,000 signatures by Thursday morning, ”reports The Indy Star.

That number is now over 4,300.

“As a freshman, I remember walking past a teacher’s classroom,” said Bryce. “She had it right on the wall so you could see it when you walked by and looked into her room.”

“I remember walking past her classroom, taking a look at it, and just being happy. I knew we had an ally here at school. “

The flags, which have been in operation for over a year, remain removed.