A transgender teacher’s Pride flag was burned at a Los Angeles elementary school where furious parents have vowed to boycott an LGBT event.
An intruder broke into Saticoy Elementary School in North Hollywood over the weekend and set the flag on fire.
The full-time teacher, who is a transgender man, discovered its remains in a plant pot which was also broken.
He has now been removed from the school by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) over concerns of his safety, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Anger has escalated among the school community due to an upcoming Pride assembly and parents have scheduled a protest against the ‘inappropriate’ event on Friday.
A transgender teacher’s Pride flag was burned at a Los Angeles elementary school where furious parents have vowed to boycott an LGBT event
An intruder broke into Saticoy Elementary School in North Hollywood over the weekend and set the flag on fire
Los Angeles police have confirmed they are investigating the incident and the school sent a message to parents.
‘We experienced a break-in over the weekend at Saticoy Elementary that resulted in vandalism and is being investigated as a hate-motivated incident,’ it said.
‘We are cooperating with law enforcement. This is a reminder that we rely on our entire school community to keep our school safe and secure by reporting any suspicious activity on campus after hours. If you see something, say something.’
The transgender teacher was taken out of Saticoy Elementary School for his own safety, a source who wanted to remain anonymous said.
His image was taken down from the school’s website but an image of the teacher before and after his transition was posted on Instagram pages used by parents against the Pride assembly.
‘Here’s the special ed/3rd grade trans teacher (first pic as female, later male) at Saticoy Elementary who has made it a point to send message to [Armenian] kids about [Pride],’ the post read.
One parent commented that they knew he was transgender and that it never bothered anyone before.
‘He has now decided to stir things up and make his private sexual business our kids,’ they wrote.
Another Saticoy Elementary School teacher, who wanted to remain anonymous, said staff do not feel safe anymore.
‘We’re in an atmosphere especially here in the United States with school shootings where, no, I don’t feel safe,’ they said.
‘I don’t think any of our teachers feel safe. And a lot of parents don’t feel safe about their children either.’
Anger has escalated among the school community due to an upcoming Pride assembly and parents have scheduled a protest against the ‘inappropriate’ event on Friday
The incident comes after parents set up an Instagram account on May 16 called ‘saticoyelementaryparents’ to protest against the school’s upcoming Pride assembly where teachers read a Mary Hoffman book titled ‘The Great Big Book of Families’.
It talks about diversity and ‘all kinds of families’ including those with LGBTQ+ parents.
And just three days later, parents took their children out of a class which was being taught by a transgender substitute teacher, three school sources said.
The teacher is said to have previously worked at the school without any problems before the backlash over the Pride event.
‘It was awful,’ a staff member said. ‘I get that people have freedom of speech and the ability to believe and have their own opinions, but when it directly results in affecting the livelihood of another person, it’s unconscionable.’
The LAUSD refused to confirm the incident and said: ‘Due to confidentiality laws, we are unable to address student and personnel matters.
‘Please be assured that Los Angeles Unified remains committed to providing a learning and working environment that is free from discrimination, harassment, intimidation or bullying.’
The furious parents plan to protest outside the school on June 2 and have told others who ‘share conservative values’ and ‘don’t feel this material is appropriate to teach to the children’ to join them.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk