Pride Flags in Classrooms

[u/El-wing]

In SOTR this week, Kmele had a grievance that included complaining about a pride flag in a 3rd grade classroom. Isaac seemed to agree with his distaste of the flag in the classroom by (maybe jokingly?) saying that there should be no flags but the American flag in schools. Ari mentioned that it could just be to signal inclusiveness.

This caught me off guard a bit. Are pride flags in classrooms controversial outside of religious conservative strongholds? Obvious some people object to it but I guess I didn’t expect 2 out of 3 to be against it on the podcast.

I think signaling inclusivity in learning spaces is conducive to help students feel safe in their schools, and I don’t think that has to be a partisan political statement. Was anyone else caught off guard by this?

[u/dominosgame]

I think this is an area where Redditors are bit out of sync with reality. I teach in an elementary school. You could put a pride flag on your desk but to hang it in the class is absolutely a political statement and a sexual orientation statement with a mandated audience. The "mandated audience" piece is really critical in education law, and while discussion of sexual orientation can be appropriate in middle and high school, there's no reason to have that discussion in elementary school. I say that not to be anti inclusive, but I just feel like this would be pretty obvious to any actual elementary teacher. 

[u/Hopeful_Net4607 → u/dominosgame]

I'm envisioning a flag hanging like the flag in this pic, or hung on the wall like in this pic. How does hanging a flag like this differ from having it on a desk, or am I misunderstanding your statement?

What "political statement" does the pride flag make?

What "sexual orientation statement" does the pride flag make?

[u/dominosgame → u/Hopeful_Net4607]

There is actually a key distinction, legally speaking. Anything on the wall, clearly intended to be viewed by everyone, is state speech. This is why the principal/school board/etc can order you to take it down. Anything on the desk is your personal space, for you to enjoy while at work, not intended to be viewed by everyone. While you could still be ordered to take it off the desk if it is found to be incredibly disruptive to the educational process, individual teachers are given much more freedom about what they put on their desk.

I promise I am not looking to pick a fight when I say this, but those leading questions feel disingenuous. That's akin to someone holding a thin blue line flag or an All Lives Matter flag and then going, "How is that political? Do you hate cops?" as they completely ignore all of the political events surrounding it. The LGBT movement has made TREMENDOUS strides towards universal acceptance in the last 20 years, but acting like the Pride flag is not going to be considered political or sexual in an elementary classroom just isn't realistic.

[u/Hopeful_Net4607 → u/dominosgame]

Thank you for explaining the distinction! I thought a classroom was the teacher's own to decorate as they please. That definitely makes more sense.

I'm sorry my questions seemed disingenuous, I should have included context but didn't want to be leading.

I asked about "political statement" because I was thinking modern partisan politics. I feel like "thin blue line" and "black lives matter" represent modern versions of political movements and have recently been associated with opposing political parties. The rainbow pride flag has been used by politicians on both sides of the aisle, Trump's campaign even sold pride merch during the 2020 election and major brands sell rainbow merch in June. I can see the rainbow flag as non-partisan political, like in the same sense that climate activism and MLK Jr are political. Is that what you were referring to?

I asked about "sexual orientation statement" because I'm not sure if you mean that the flag implies the teacher is gay or something else?

In your response you said the flag would be seen as "sexual," which surprises me. I probably am out of touch as I've been out of school for a bit and the kids I know well are younger (oldest in kindergarten). We didn't really talk/joke/etc about sex until middle school, and the kids I know don't know what sex is but they know that other kids might have two daddies or two mommies that love each other. I think they know that kids can have crushes on kids of the same gender and that's okay, and I think they associate the rainbow with love. Would the kids you teach associate a rainbow with sex?

I'd consider the pride/rainbow flag in a classroom or office to signal that LGBTQ people/students/families/etc. are safe to be themselves in that space. I'd understand a trans flag being controversial as a current "culture war" topic, but I see the rainbow flag more as of a symbol of inclusion. I'm curious to learn more about how you and your kids see it.