LAPD Investigating Hate Crime After Trans Teacher's LGBTQ+ Flag Burned At California Elementary School
June 1, 2023The Los Angeles Police Department, U.S.A. said Wednesday they are investigating a hate crime involving the burning of an LGBTQ+ flag at an elementary school ahead of a Pride Day assembly that has faced increasing parental protest.
Authorities said a person broke into Saticoy Elementary School in North Hollywood, California, and set a small LGBTQ+ flag on fire that was displayed in a flower pot. School personnel discovered the burned flag on May 22 at 6:30 a.m., Los Angeles Police Department Valley Bureau Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton said, according to The Los Angeles Daily News.
Hamilton said the incident is being investigated as a “misdemeanor, vandalism hate crime.” Authorities have not released any information about a possible suspect.
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The incident comes amid community division over whether LGBTQ+ visibility and inclusion should be taught at the school. A conservative group of parents is protesting an upcoming Pride Day assembly on Friday, where the school plans to teach students about LGBTQ+ identities.
The group, Saticoy Elementary Parents, shared on social media their plans to protest at the school and boycott the event by keeping “your kids home and innocent” on the day of the assembly.
Renato Lira, director of the San Fernando Valley LGBTQ Center, said the centre has been working with police and the school to ensure the safety of students, LGBTQ+ teachers, and parents, according to ‘USA Today’.
“We're trying to make sure that the school is safe. We're not going to let other parents think that this is Florida,” Lira told USA TODAY. “California is a freedom of speech, of freedom who we are, where everyone's accepted.”
The Los Angeles Unified School District shared a message to Saticoy families on May 22 and said the elementary school “experienced a break-in over the weekend” that is being investigated as a hate-motivated incident.
“We are cooperating with law enforcement. This is a reminder that we rely on our entire school community to keep our school safe and secure by reporting any suspicious activity on campus after hours,” the message said. “If you see something, say something.”
The San Fernando Valley LGBTQ Center shared photos of the burned flag on social media and condemned the incident, calling on community members to “Join us in the fight to stop these hate crimes!”
The Los Angeles Times reported that the teacher, a transgender man, who put up the LGBTQ+ flag has since been removed due to safety concerns by the school district.
According to the newspaper, the teacher's image was also removed from the school's website over safety concerns but photos of him were posted on conservative social media pages mainly used by parents protesting the assembly.
“Due to confidentiality laws, we are unable to address student and personnel matters,” the district said in a statement. “Please be assured that Los Angeles Unified remains committed to providing a learning and working environment that is free from discrimination, harassment, intimidation or bullying.”
The San Bernardino Sun reported the assembly will include a book reading that describes various family types, including multi-cultural families, multi-racial families, single parent families and families with LGBTQ+ parents.
The Los Angeles Unified School District said it “is committed to creating a safe and inclusive learning environment that embraces the diversity of the communities we serve.” The district said their schools regularly discuss diversity and inclusion as part of their engagement with school communities.
But Saticoy Elementary Parents have continually called for boycotts over the event and plan to protest at the school Friday. The conservative parent group said on social media that the school has a large population of Armenian and Hispanic families who are Christian or “share conservative values” and “don’t feel this material is appropriate to teach to the children.”
A Los Angeles Unified spokesperson said additional patrols from the Los Angeles School Police Department will be provided out of an abundance of caution.
Hamilton also said the Los Angeles Police Department has reached out to groups who are attending the planned protest and informed them that while people have a right to express their opinion peacefully, police are “not going to allow the school to be interrupted.”
Lira said it is the first time Pride Month will be celebrated inside the school and the assembly will help students understand LGBTQ+ identities within their community. Lira also noted that there are LGBTQ+ parents and teachers in the school community.
“This celebration, Pride Month means love. To be united, to be together. It's to show them that we are a family. We're gonna celebrate Pride all 360 days, not only the month of June,” Lira said. “San Fernando Valley is going to be stronger if we're going to make a difference.”
Saticoy Elementary School joins a national debate over gender and LGBTQ+ issues in schools. LGBTQ+ youth in many states have a faced a sweep of bills targeting classroom discussion of LGBTQ+ topics.
In March 2022, Florida passed a so-called ‘Don't Say Gay’ law, restricting discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in elementary schools. The law was expanded to apply to all grade levels in April and similar laws in other states have also been introduced or passed.
There have been over 120 bills introduced targeting LGBTQ+ youth. And of the 70 curriculum censorship bills that have tried to restrict educators from discussing LGBTQ+ issues and other marginalised communities in their classrooms, seven have passed into law.
Hate crimes nationally in the U.S.A. increased by 11.6% in 2021 compared to the previous year.
Statistics showed that in 2021, over 12,400 people were reported to have been victims of hate crimes. And 64.5% of them were targeted because of their race or ethnicity, 15.9% targeted for their sexual orientation and 14.1% for their religion.
A 2022 study said LGBTQ+ people are nine times more likely to be victims of violent hate crimes than non-LGBTQ+ people.
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