Utah Teacher Defies LGBTQ+ Flag Ban: Subtle Acts of Support

” Late in the night, I realized: I’m a teacher. I use pens and highlighters and pens daily. Nobody could offer me a hard time for using a number of pens in my pocket,” he said. “So I came to school the following day with a rainbowish assortment ready to go. And many people made absolutely nothing of it. My boy recognized. He checked out me and he recognized I was flying the flag just for him.”.

The Rainbow Pen Protest

He looked at me and he understood I was flying the flag simply for him.”.

When he talked with the principal after course, he was informed that Utah had a legislation in place at the time against the “advocacy of homosexuality” in school. The regulation, which first began in 2001, was worded slightly enough that it properly avoided instructors from making any reference of anything LGBTQ-related.

Utah’s LGBTQ+ Flag Ban

This targeted action is being done under the guise of outlawing “unsanctioned” flags (generally any kind of flags other than the U.S. flag, the Utah flag, and numerous others), but it’s been really clear from the beginning that the intent is especially to get rainbow flags out of colleges. Utah state agent Trevor Lee has actually also mentioned his purpose to ban more things revealing support for LGBTQ+ students in the future should teachers discover means to keep showing assistance past flags.

Following a regulation targeting LGBTQ+ flags in schools, a Utah teacher is sharing just how he’s formerly found ways to show support for queer students in his courses even when politicians have actually done their ideal to stop it.

Imagination vs. Bigotry

“Bigotry will certainly never outmatch our imagination,” he stated. “The only way to remove rainbow flags and all the remainder is to make them unnecessary. When all our children– LGBTQ youth included– get to walk right into our classrooms and discover themselves commemorated in guides they review, the backgrounds they examine, and the tales we inform, after that teachers will not require to fly rainbow flags for them anymore.”.

Arthur was annoyed, as he noted there was a pupil in his class who was “plainly gay” and “reacted” to his schoolmates’ laughter. But the principal said there was nothing the educator might do to show support without risking running afoul of the regulation.

Principal’s warning

“The only method to obtain rid of rainbow flags and all the rest is to make them unnecessary. When all our youngsters– LGBTQ youth included– obtain to stroll into our classrooms and find themselves commemorated in the books they read, the backgrounds they research, and the stories we tell, after that teachers won’t need to fly rainbow flags for them any longer.”.

“Back in my first year of training, I read The Wizard of Oz in class and the words ‘gay’ and ‘queer’ showed up in guide,” John Arthur recounted in a video shared to Threads. “Some students began giggling and I was about to say something when my principal, who was observing in the space at the time, drank her head ‘no.'”.

Although that particular regulation was repealed in 2017, as Arthur notes in his video clip, Utah has now taken action to formally ban LGBTQ+ flags from all federal government buildings– consisting of institutions– starting May 7.