Community outraged after school removes Pride flag that flew since 2019: "It's anger. It's sadness."

Students, parents, and businesses from the Sonoma Valley High School community in California are pushing back after the school board voted last Friday to remove a Progress Pride flag bearing the school’s dragon mascot, which has flown on the school’s outdoor flagpole since 2019.

Sonoma Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees voted 3-2 last Thursday to remove the flag and restrict symbolic flags and banners to specific awareness months. Board President David Bell said, “When the flag went up in 2019, no process was created for any other group to apply. What was called inclusion became, in practice, exclusion of all but one group.”

Bell had previously told the school to remove the flag in January, but he reversed his decision four days later amid pushback and protest from the school community, who saw the flag as a symbol of safety and security, The Sonoma Sun reported.

In a January 22 letter, school staff members criticized Bell’s unilateral decision and urged the school board not to disrupt decisions overseen by the school’s supportive principal.

Shortly thereafter, the school conducted a survey to explore student support for the flag. Of the 571 students who responded to the survey (taken from the 1,055-person student body), 40% supported the flag. Additionally, the survey found that 27% of LGBTQ+ students said they had considered suicide over the past year (compared to 4% of non-LGBTQ+ students who had), and LGBTQ+ students said they faced bullying three times more often than non-LGBTQ+ students.

Students and community members later formed a Pride flag advocacy group seeking to display the flag permanently, and the grassroots aid organization Wake Up Sonoma called for district employees to undergo training on anti-harassment and anti-bullying policies.

Newly appointed District Superintendent Jason Sutter, who took office on March 1, had proposed two possible solutions to the school board: One, fly the US, California, school, and Pride flags on the school’s four flagpoles throughout the year with the possibility of other flags flying next to the latter two; or two, create an approval process for “symbolic flags” nominated by a student leadership group.

Both proposals would’ve allowed students, school employees, and school organizations to submit requests to the principal about which flags to fly. The school board said it wanted to be especially cautious, since the 2022 US Supreme Court ruling in Shurtleff v. City of Boston determined that flags flown on government property are considered “government speech.”

Instead, on October 8, the Board of Trustees voted 3–2 to restrict symbolic flags to specific awareness months rather than a year-round display.

When asked about the community’s feelings by local news station KRON, Sonoma Valley Pride member Gary Saperstein said, “It’s frustration. It’s anger. It’s sadness.”

Lisa Storment, president of advocacy organization Wake Up Sonoma, told the station, “I’m extremely disappointed in the school board. I’m very, very encouraged by the students who have decided that this fight isn’t over for them yet either. They’re very strong. They’re very resilient. And, you know, I think it’s really disappointing that our school board is not listening to the community.”

After the board’s vote, 60 of the school’s staff members sent a signed memo to students, which said in part, “We value our LGBTQ+ students. You belong at Sonoma Valley High School and are an integral part of our Dragon community.” Students and parents have also been handing out small Pride flags in the morning in front of the school.

Students organized a noontime walkout protest for today and plan on planting small Pride flags around campus tomorrow in support of the rainbow banner. Local businesses located across the street, down the boulevard, and around the town square have begun displaying Pride flags in seeming solidarity with the school.

“It’s more than just a piece of fabric,” Saperstein added. “It really is about community. It’s about inclusion. It’s about belonging, community. We’re not going to give up, and we hope that in the near future we’re going to get that Pride flag back up again.”

Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. The Trans Lifeline (1-877-565-8860) is staffed by trans people and will not contact law enforcement. The Trevor Project provides a safe, judgement-free place to talk for youth via chat, text (678-678), or phone (1-866-488-7386). Help is available at all three resources in English and Spanish.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Originally published here.