Just a few weeks after a transgender teacher’s Pride flag was burnt on school grounds, a Pride Month celebration at an elementary school in the Los Angeles region descended into many brawls on Friday, prompting authorities to intervene.
The Los Angeles Times reported that more than a hundred parents protested the Pride Day assembly for their children at North Hollywood’s Saticoy Elementary School.
The angry demonstrators, many of whom were reportedly carrying posters reading “Parental choice matters” and “No pride in grooming,” were reported to have gathered outside the school. One vehicle was pulling a huge trailer with a red sign that read, “Leave our kids alone.”
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On the other side of the street, more than a hundred people were rallying for LGBTQIA+ rights and celebrating the beginning of Pride Month on June 1.
According to NBC Los Angeles, there were at least two fights throughout the stressful occasion. There was no immediate word on casualties or arrests.
It was reported by the site that Mary Hoffman’s “The Great Big Book of Families” will be read aloud at the Friday Gay Pride and Rainbow Day assembly.
Despite concerns from parents, Los Angeles Unified District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho informed them Friday outside the school that the session had “no sex education specific to the book.”
“The book portrays a reality that is not only common, but is real to our kids,” he said, adding that the material was approved by the school district.
Karine, a 40-year-old mother, told the Los Angeles Times that she was fed up with “propaganda” after her Saticoy third-grader brought home rainbow stickers and other stuff from school the previous week.
“I didn’t come from Armenia for this,” she said of the inclusive material.
“I came for freedom and for my children to learn about math and education, not about this. I might go back home.”
According to the news source, one of the fights broke out when Karine and other demonstrators tried to cross the street to the pro-Pride side.
Renato Lira, director of the San Fernando Valley LGBTQ Center in Van Nuys, yelled at the protesters to “get educated.”
“They needed to talk to actual gay people and parents,” he told the LA Times.
Tabitha Davis, 44, came to the rally wrapped in a transgender pride flag and wearing a sweater that said, “You deserve to be happy.”
“I feel like it’s my position and my place to fight for others to feel safe,” Davis, whose child is a trans student at another district school, said.
Saticoy Elementary Parents, the organization responsible for Friday’s demonstration, claimed on social media that they are not anti-LGBTQIA+.
“We want to reiterate that our protest is in no way an attack on the LGBTQ community,” the group wrote on Instagram on Thursday.
“We recognize the importance of promoting equality and acceptance for all individuals.”
Even so, they distributed fliers urging parents to keep their kids “home and innocent” rather than attend Friday’s event.
Tensions within the Saticoy community have been simmering for several weeks and came to a head late last month when a transgender teacher’s small Pride flag was burned during the weekend of May 20-21.
NBC Los Angeles stated that the incident is being treated as a possible hate crime by police.
The school’s perimeter was bolstered by Los Angeles Police Department personnel on Friday, the news source reported.
In a statement, the Los Angeles Unified School District said it “remains committed to maintaining a safe, inclusive and supportive environment for all students” in the face of controversy.