Two California School Districts Ban LGBT Pride Flags, Stirring Controversy

The backlash against the LGBT agenda has made its way to blue California.

Two school districts in the Golden State have prohibited the display of pride flags, drawing celebration from some corners and criticism from others.

As reported by San Jose’s Mercury News, the school district in the small town of Sunol (Alameda County), which boasts a population of just 1,000 people, passed a resolution to ban the community’s elementary school from flying an LGBT flag on campus. The vote, made Tuesday, was 2-1 in favor of the ban by the three-member board.

Also on Tuesday, Temecula (Riverside County), which has about 100,000 residents, placed restrictions on what flags can be flown on school property, though it did not ban specific flags. Per the Mercury News, the resolution states: “No flag other than the United States of America and State of California may be displayed on school grounds, including classrooms, unless it is a country, state, or United States military flag used solely for educational purposes within the adopted curriculum.”

Newsmax noted of the public reaction to the decision:

… More than 100 people waited outside the open session of the Temecula school board’s meeting to voice their support or opposition to the rule, which many saw as a way to ban LGBTQ+ flags without having to specify them as prohibited.

“It’s just unreal, they way that they are chipping away at the humanity of kids of color, kids on the LGBTQ spectrum, anyone who isn’t their white evangelical, in their church — they other them,” said Jennifer San Nicolas, a local mother with two children in Temecula Valley schools.

Another resident, Ryan Waroff, said: “This isn’t anti-LGBTQ, this isn’t anti-trans. We live in America, and in America, we’re allowed to be whatever we want, but let’s unite under the one unifying goal, that’s ‘We’re all Americans.’ I would like to see us come back to that.”

The exposure of children to LGBT ideology has become an increasingly polarizing issue that is handled in different ways in different states and cities depending on the local political makeup. While towns such as Temecula may be taking a stand against LGBT indoctrination, cities such as Pittsburgh are supporting it.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the city council on Tuesday passed two bills aimed at protecting “gender-affirming care.” One of the bills would make Pittsburgh a “sanctuary city” for sex changes at a time when many states and localities are banning such procedures for minors on the grounds that it qualifies as abuse, because children do not have the mental capacity or maturity to make such life-altering decisions.

The other bill would ban city officials from providing anyone with information about those seeking sex changes or assisting others in getting them — unless ordered to do so by a court.

In another example of a state or local government taking a strong stand on the LGBT issue, this time on the conservative side, the Alaska Board of Education recently voted to approve a proposal prohibiting boys in the state from competing on high school girls’ sports teams. The new rule declares that “if a separate high school athletics team is established for female students, participation shall be limited to females who were assigned female at birth.”

Thus far, 17 states have enacted more than 30 LGBT-related education laws this year, which impact the 2023-2024 school year. These include laws that restrict discussion of LGBT issues, allow reviews to prevent the presence of sexually explicit materials on school campuses, ban students from engaging in sports teams belonging to the opposite sex under the guise of “transgenderism,” and ban educators from using student pronouns that do not align with students’ biological sex.

According to a survey by NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist, 61 percent of Americans hold the view that “defining gender as the sex listed on a person’s original birth certificate is the only way to define male and female in society.” This number is up 10 percent from May 2022.

Last year, 42 percent of those who took the survey said they believe the “definition of gender is antiquated and needs to be updated to include identity.” That number fell to just 36 percent in the latest poll.

The pushback against widespread pro-LGBT indoctrination over the last decade is not limited to the United States. As The New American previously reported, a survey published by independent sociological research company Russian Field revealed that there has been a notable rise in the number of Russians who believe the “rights” of LGBT individuals should be restricted. Specifically, 62 percent of respondents this year expressed support for limiting “gay rights,” and 55 percent supported restricting “transgender rights.”

By contrast, per previous polling, only 42 percent of Russians in 2021 opposed “gay rights,” while that number was still lower — down at only 19 percent — in 2013.

While the Left is vehemently pushing LGBT propaganda in schools, the media, and entertainment, it appears that — in spite of all this — a great awakening to traditional biblical morality is taking place.