Pride Day Protestors Clash Outside LA Elementary School

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, CA — Sparring sides showed up in equal force outside Saticoy Elementary School Friday morning in the culmination of a weeks-long dispute over the school's planned Pride Month assembly, which was set to include the reading of a book featuring gay parents.

Separated by lines of at least two dozen police officers, on one side of the street stood a group with matching black-and-white T-shirts reading "leave our kids alone." They held signs emblazoned with slogans like "no to sexualizing our kids!" and chanted "LAUSD stop grooming our kids."

On the other side were LGBTQ parents and allies, including several members of the clergy. Wearing colorful clothing and waving rainbow flags of all types, the pro-pride side voiced their support for the assembly, which was set to include a reading of "The Great Big Book of Families."

The picture book begins with the idea that "families come in all sorts of shapes and sizes." Some children live with their mom and dad and others with their grandparents. Some have pets, others don't. Some kids have two moms or two dads, others are adopted or are fostered, the book teaches.

The book — which contains no depictions of sex — is recommended as age-appropriate for elementary school students by groups including First 5 LA.

But many of the anti-pride protestors correlated the planned pride assembly with grooming, which the U.S. Department of Justice defines has defined as a tactic "that involves building trust with a child and the adults around a child in an effort to gain access to and time alone with her/him. In extreme cases, offenders may use threats and physical force to sexually assault or abuse a child."

With great stamina, this guy's microphone rants dominated the anti-Pride side.

He accused the LGBTQ group of being on methamphetamine and talked a lot about school staff wearing "miniskirts and thongs."

There's no indication either of those assertions are true. pic.twitter.com/1K9ucsBQ8i
— Chris Lindahl (@cmlindahl) June 2, 2023

Some opponents of the assembly expressed concern about what staff might be wearing at the gathering.

"Disgusting! You're disgusting!," said one man, who ignored Patch's request for his name. "Put on a thong and a miniskirt and dance in front of your own kids."

The man's words mirror rhetoric that has ramped up across the country over the last year in which interactions between members of the LGBTQ community and children or discussions with youth about queerness have been painted as perverse or abusive.

At Saticoy, there was no indication that the pride assembly was set to include any performances or costumes of a sexually provocative nature.

But backlash against the assembly still turned violent. Administrators discovered a small pride flag on campus had been burned last month. The flag was outside a transgender teacher's classroom. The teacher was removed from the school for their safety.

Friday's protestors rallied around a view that "any topic that is related to LGBTQ is sexually explicit," according to an Instagram post from organizers.

At one point police stepped in to separate the groups when protestors crossed the street to where LGBTQ supporters demonstrated.

"We are deeply concerned at the spread of homophobic and transphobic sentiments," Erik Adamian of GALAS LGBTQ+ Armenian Society told protestors outside the school. "Protesting the inclusion of LGBTQ content within school programming and curricula directly harms LGBTQ students and the larger LGBTQ community."

This is Erik Adamian of GALAS LGBTQ+ Armenian Society, who says protests like this one are harmful to LGBTQ students and the broader community.

Schools have a duty to promote a safe and diverse environment, he said. pic.twitter.com/qyjhMxZzNq
— Chris Lindahl (@cmlindahl) June 2, 2023

While the anti-pride side's soundtrack was dominated by the graphic shouts of one anonymous man, another protestor used a megaphone to say she wasn't trying to spread hate.

"At any rally, you're going to have people who hijack the message for their own agenda," said Kristine, who declined to provide her surname to Patch. "When my son comes to me to ask, then I'll explain," she said, referring to gender and sexuality differences.

Here's Kristine, who says she's not being hateful — she believes discussion of LGBTQ people at school amounts to adults talking to kids "about their sex lives." pic.twitter.com/HBkS8L3vhG
— Chris Lindahl (@cmlindahl) June 2, 2023

Pro-pride protestor Paula Miley said the opposing side has painted the LGBTQ community inaccurately. Miley said the assembly was simply about highlighting the rich diversity of families that exist in Los Angeles and across the country.

"It's simple to kids," they said.