Protest erupts as California school district votes to recognise Pride Month, 3 arrested
By India Today World Desk: A brawl broke out on Tuesday as a Southern California school district voted to recognise June as Pride month. Pro and anti-LGBT protestors came to blows against each other in the parking lot of the Glendale Unified School District headquarters.
Pro-LGBT and anti-LGBT protesters brawling outside a school board meeting in Glendale, California, as the school voted on recognizing June as Pride month.pic.twitter.com/3k66Rr98Rd
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) June 7, 2023
Police separated the two groups and arrested three people — two on suspicion of obstructing officers and one for unlawful use of pepper spray, said a report by the Associated Press. Anti-LGBTQ+ protestors wore T-shirts which read: “Leave our kids alone”. Placards with slogans like “Stop grooming the kids” were also seen in the protest.
The same slogans were used by protesters a few days earlier outside the Saticoy Elementary School in Los Angeles to protest a planned Pride assembly. Tension erupted after a transgender teacher’s Pride flag displayed outdoors was found burned in May.
The Los Angeles Unified School District school board had also unanimously voted to recognize June as Pride Month.
JUNE RECOGNISED AS PRIDE MONTH
The protest outside the Glendale Unified School District headquarters erupted as the school board was inside voting on recognizing June as Pride month–as has been the case for the last four years. The brawl broke out about an hour into the meeting, forcing the meeting’s attendees to have to take shelter.
However, the school board approved for the fifth year in a row a resolution designating June as LGBTQ+ Pride month.
In a statement, the Glendale Police Department said “a small group of individuals engaged in behavior deemed unsafe and a risk to public safety”.
ðèGlendale Unified School District Protests and Arrests ðè
See attached press release. #MyGlendale #GlendaleCA #KeepGlendaleSafe pic.twitter.com/mQ6DQRVZ6Y
— Glendale PD (@GlendalePD) June 7, 2023
June is being celebrated as Pride Month across America amid rising backlash in some places against LGBTQ+ rights. Some Republican-led states are limiting classroom conversations about gender and sexuality and banning gender-affirming care while several Democratic cities and states are seeking to expand LGBTQ+ rights and to honor the community’s contributions.