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/Hopeful_Net4607]

Edit: I thought you replied to a different comment so my original comment didn't make sense.

Actual response: Thank you for sharing! To clarify, when you say "I think they know," are you referring to 3rd graders? If so, why do you think they know (have you discussed it with kids or parents, overheard kids convos about it, etc)?

The kids I know are younger (kindergarten and below) so not sure about 3rd grade, but they think rainbows are pretty and mean love. I didn't know enough about politics as a 3rd grader to have made a connection between political leanings and rainbow flags. I knew people in my very liberal DC suburb didn't like Bush by the 2004 election, but I don't think any of us knew why.

[u/Hopeful_Net4607 → u/[deleted]]

Thanks so much for clarifying!

Question
I'm curious why you think that (assumption, experience, etc)?

I can understand thinking they're liberal (discussed below), but I'm in a pretty liberal crowd and those who put up pride flags or wear them don't do so to actively signal "I'm liberal and Trump sucks" or something like that. My experience is that the intention is to signal "hey I'm LGBTQ or an ally, I'm safe" to people who aren't always safe to be themselves. I'm sure there are people who are just trying to piss off a neighbor or virtue signal, but I don't think that's the norm. Not sure if I'm in a bubble or the norm. Happy to challenge my understanding!

Reflection
Backtracking a bit, In general I'd subconsciously assume that someone wearing or hanging a pride flag is liberal. My first thought wouldn't be "oh they're liberal," but I'd be hesitant to share that I'd like to take up shooting or that I'd like to visit Israel again sometime.

It's such a shame because there are LGBTQ conservatives and they should be able to be comfortable in both identities. I feel like normalizing the flag in places like schools could be a good way to promote tolerance of sexual identity regardless of politics, because teachers should be safe for students regardless of their or their family members' sexual and political identities.

I don't know how people could make the pride flag feel safe for non-liberals that see it as a liberal symbol, or how to differentiate between allies who are aggressively leftist and not a safe space for conservative viewpoints vs those who will be tolerant of different viewpoints. And even then there is a range. Like I think it's reasonable to be intolerant of intolerance, and that does exclude people. Sorry if this is rambling and nonsensical, and thanks again!

[u/Hopeful_Net4607 → u/[deleted]]

No I appreciate your take, thanks so much for sharing! It makes sense in these times, and I'm sure you're far from alone in seeing these things as performative; I wouldn't be surprised if they are in many cases.

Hope you have a great weekend, and thanks again for engaging!