TR Schools – Ban on Pride flags lifted

A ban on Pride flags in classrooms at Three Rivers Community Schools has been lifted until further notice.

The decision to allow the display of such flags was made during Monday’s four-hour Three Rivers Community Schools Board of Education meeting. Following a closed session lasting more than two hours, board members agreed to allow flags to be hung in classrooms, per the recommendation of the district’s legal representation.

Board president Erin Nowak said the district will work on creating a classroom-display policy that will seek input from the district’s residents.

Twenty-nine citizens spoke during the meeting; the majority were in favor of the right to display Pride flags.

Outside the high school and before the meeting, a 90-minute demonstration was held by supporters of the flag-display option. Event organizer Andrew George said the goal of the 40-person demonstration was to bring awareness to the fact that Pride flags stand for inclusion and acceptance.

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10 comments

  1. A concerned citizien

    For Andrew George, the gay flag stands for inclusion and acceptance. That’s not what it stands for universally, just as the Confederate flag might stand for “State’s Rights” to some but is an oppressive symbol for others.

    Flags and symbols other than the state and federal flags are opening a precedent for more division, not less.

  2. Dear Mr./Ms. Concerned Citizen – Equating the Confederate flag with a pride flag is apples and oranges. The Confederate flag has never meant “state’s rights”. It is a symbol of division and racism. It was flown by people defending the system of slavery that existed in the south (among other places).

  3. Flags are very political by nature. Flags can unify people or divide people. If under one flag, there is a real possibility people can unite under it but as you divide a group, adding new flags for various smaller groups and tribes, you’re essentially dividing kids. You’re separating them by identity and into factions. Where does it end? (Hint: it doesn’t) How many flags are we going to need? (Hint: a lot more) There were multiple versions of pride flags being flown last night. Will the next argument be who’s flag represents the most oppressed in the school and which flag is more inclusive than the other? Also, which flags are not allowed? Who decides that? My guess is the same people who are pushing for their flags will also pushback against any other flag they don’t agree with.

    The talking points were universal as well. They were all grabbed from the same source and were misleading. The stats on suicide did not mention that factors also include family abuse, substance abuse, mental health, recent loss, and image issues pushed on them by online influencers. These issues can’t be fixed by hanging any flag. Parents need to be parents. Kids need to be counselled.

    Another large issue that nobody talks about is mental health of children. Kids are very easily swayed by social pressure and are immersed in a constant barrage of propaganda and identity politics. They are told that if they feel this way, they ARE this or if they look that way, they ARE that. It leads to more division. Kids are told that they have to believe all these other beliefs if they “identify” as this one thing. And if you fall out of line with that – well, the tolerance level goes to zero and you’re ousted. This is absolutely political.

    I’ve also seen some people online trying to stir people up against each other – trying to get one group mad at the other group. To those people I have to ask why? Why do you care about the sexuality of a 6th, 7th, or 8th grader? It’s weird – really weird and some of them are actually vying for various elected positions in our community. Some are already elected. The face they put on for an event like this vs their actual behavior in public is like night and day. It’s 100% political and they are using these kids for their gain.

    Wasn’t the teacher involved already burned out? He had taken roughly 10 days off from school already. A student that misses that much school would be in danger of failing. He left “over a flag”? How does leaving support kids? It’s 100% optics. It’s meant to politicize and posture himself to get a better job somewhere else. He wasn’t fired. He left these kids. Every single teacher in this school system would support a child that asks for help. This is fact. Mental illness, economic status, sexual identity, skin color – the propaganda wants you to think that these people are regularly thrown to the side. A flag won’t counsel kids. Counselors counsel kids. Good teachers are there for these kids always. Division isn’t healthy for our community and it’s not healthy for any of these kids.

    This is 100% political.

    Lastly, if you take a minute, you’ll realize it’s always the same people trying to divide people under the guise of tolerance in this city. Leave me alone and worry about yourself, friend. In turn, I will leave you alone. Don’t force your beliefs on me and I won’t force my beliefs on you. Don’t try to groom these kids into a life that you’re living and I will do the same.

  4. In recently leaked documents and audio from the California Teachers Association Conference, educators disclose the various tactics they deploy in introducing and recruiting middle schoolers into clubs that prompt them to question their gender and sexuality.

    This is not about tolerance or anti-bullying. It is about grooming pliable minds and bodies in ways that create the tumult needed for cultural revolution in service of hastening “historical progress.”

  5. Publius – Parroting “info” from homophobic sources is not truth. It’s the truth YOU want. BTW I haven’t actually found a copy of the audio. Only the word of Abigail Schrier who claims to have heard it. If it’s so horrible, wouldn’t you post the audio? Or would that mean people would hear what was said in it’s entirety and not just the sound bytes you want them to hear. Quit with the dog whistles.

  6. Listening to the word of journalists is how we get most of our information, unless you’re deep in original sources between sarcastic posts, Craig R Ball.

    “How Activist Teachers Recruit Kids”

    https://abigailshrier.substack.com/p/how-activist-teachers-recruit-kids

    Written by Abigail Shrier, journalist and author, is a graduate of Columbia College, University of Oxford, and Yale Law School.

  7. Publius – I apologize if you took my comment as sarcastic. It wasn’t. Misinformation is the plague of our time. Who are you listening to other than Abby? I’ll wait for you to name other “journalists”. Psychology Today panned the book. She has no following other than other homophobes. And don’t start with the degrees. Trump graduated from Wharton so you can go to a good school and still not know what you’re talking about.

  8. Another plug for Abigial Shrier, from Richard Dawkins, renowned evolutionary biologist.

    Abigail Shrier speaks truth to Princeton
    December 9, 2021
    https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2021/12/09/abigail-shrier-speaks-truth-to-princeton/

    Dawkins “It’s not a transphobic book, nor is Shrier a transphobe. She is thoughtful and deeply sympathetic to people with gender dysphoria who have given their transitions mature and rational consideration. It is a call for caution towards younger people—women in particular—who might not be getting proper guidance.”

  9. Amendment:
    Here’s the Twitter post from Richard Dawkins
    @RichardDawkins
    ·Dec 10
    I’ve read Irreversible Damage, and I strongly recommend it. (Link to Coyne’s website)

    Previous post by Publius featuring a quote and site by Jerry Coyne, yet ANOTHER endorsement for Shrier.

    Jerry A. Coyne, Ph.D is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago and was a member of both the Committee on Genetics and the Committee on Evolutionary Biology.

  10. Publius – Thanks for the info. After reading Mr. Dawkins tweet about recommending the book Irreversible Damage but gives no reason why. He also appears to be affiliated with Jeffrey Epstein. Many mentions of meeting with JE and flying on his plane. Not credible. Mr. Coyne is certainly a darling of the Christian set but there is no mention of Abigail Shrier on the Publius website. The bottom line is that this discussion started over some supposed audio that Shrier claims that teachers are pushing students into an alternative lifestyle. If that audio exists then post it. Otherwise it’s just so much made up blather.

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