GLENDALE, Calif. (KNX) - Two weeks after a chaotic demonstration against Glendale Unified School District’s motion to recognize Pride Month, anti-LGBTQ+ protesters turned out for GUSD’s final board meeting of the school year on Tuesday, leading to one arrest.
There were no LGBTQ-related items on the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting. Regardless, a large group of protesters – some of whom weren’t Glendale residents – gathered outside the GUSD offices bearing signs and t-shirts with the slogan “leave our kids alone.'
“It’s not right for children to be learning about – not to be learning about, excuse me, to be indoctrinated, and to have it forced down their throats to an extent where math and science and arithmetic is put secondary and this is prioritized,” one protester who identified herself as a Glendale resident told KNX News.
A group of LGBTQ+ advocates were also in attendance. Activist organization Queer Nation L.A. had urged supporters to turn out to the meeting, where an “allied group of GUSD parents” were planning to speak in support of LGBQ+ children. Glendale Police were on standby in riot gear in case the situation turned violent.
ABC7 video from the scene shows a clash in which a demonstrator with an American flag draped over his shoulders punches a man with a rainbow flag. Another protester in a “leave our kids alone” t-shirt kicks a man on the ground.
Another incident captured by freelance journalist Sergio Olmos shows a group of people shoving a man to the ground and kicking him. It’s unclear which side of the protest the individuals were aligned with.
Police told ABC7 that one person was arrested during the protests, but didn’t disclose any other details.
According to City News Service, school board president Nayiri Nahabedian began the meeting by advising the protesters that “no one has a right to threaten, bully, harass another person."
“These things will create long lasting divisions in our Glendale community that may never be repaired,” she said.
During the meeting, some speakers criticized GUSD for teaching LGBTQ-related subject matter, but other parents voiced support for the district’s dedication to creating an inclusive learning environment.
“I am proud to live in an America and a city like Glendale that embraces diversity and inclusion,” a parent said. “My children are two and four, and I don’t know who they’re going to love or how they’re going to identify, but what they know is that I love them as they are, no matter what, and I want them to feel the same about their teachers, schools, and their city.”
Glendale is only one of several Southern California school districts that have become battlegrounds for LGBTQ+ education. In May, a Pride flag was burned at Saticoy Elementary School in North Hollywood. The superintendent of Temecula Valley Unified School District was fired on June 13 after rejecting a social studies curriculum that mentions Harvey Milk.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok
Related
Related
