CA Teacher Under Fire After Telling Class To Pledge To Pride Flag

CALIFORNIA — An Orange County teacher is facing backlash after she reportedly removed the American flag from her classroom and told students they could instead pledge allegiance to the Pride flag.

This week, Kristin Pitzen — who taught English as a second language at the Newport-Mesa Unified School District — was no longer in the classroom, Annette Franco, a spokesperson for Newport-Mesa Unified School District, told Patch.

"We follow due process and our investigation continues," Franco said in an email.

The district opened an investigation into Pitzen, 26, after she posted a TikTok video describing her feelings about the Pledge of Allegiance. Her account has since been deleted.

"OK, so during third period, we do announcements, and they do the Pledge of Allegiance," Pitzen said in her video. "I always tell my class, 'Stand if you feel like it; don't stand if you don't feel like it. Say the words if you want. You don't have to say the words.' So my class decided to stand but not say the words. Totally fine. Except for the fact that my room does not have a flag."

In the video, Pitzen said she removed the U.S. flag from her classroom during the pandemic and replaced it with the Pride flag.

"It made me uncomfortable," she said of the American flag, adding that she packed it away and hasn't found it yet.

READ ALSO: Fullerton Lost Its Pride Flag, Mission Viejo Mom Sends A New One

"My kid today goes, 'Hey, it's kind of weird that we just stand, and we say it to nothing," Pitzen said, then laughed and appeared to say sarcastically that she told the student she was working on finding the flag.

"In the meantime, I tell this kid, 'We do have a flag in the class that you can pledge your allegiance to.'"

In a separate video, Pitzen said,"I pledge allegiance to the queers."

Patch was unable to reach Pitzen for comment.

District officials said that the TikTok video spurred "alarm" and "concern."

"Respecting our flag is a value we instill in students and is an expectation of our staff," school authorities tweeted over the weekend. "We take this matter with extreme seriousness and are investigating and addressing it."

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District has a policy to "conduct patriotic exercises daily" and to display the flag on campus. The district urged teachers to include "instruction that promotes understanding of the concepts of 'pledge,' 'allegiance,' 'republic,' and 'indivisible' and understanding of the importance of the pledge as an expression of patriotism, love of country, and pride in the United States."

Some conservative figures and parents have called for Pitzon's firing. Others have accused her of disrespecting the flag just days after 13 U.S. service members died in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan.

Richard Grenell, former acting director of national intelligence, lambasted Pitzen on Twitter, condemning her video.

"What kind of parent would allow their child to be taught by this wacko?" he said. "Why are parents turning their kids over to someone they don't know. I'd like to talk to people who think this is good?!?"

In recent years, the Golden State has encouraged educators to implement a curriculum that is informative about gender and inclusive of the LGBTQ+ community.

"California is working to ensure that every classroom is a safe learning environment and every student has access to the information they need to grow into a healthy adult," the state's department of education wrote on its LGBTQ+ curriculum page.

The state offers "modules that provide school staff (educators, school counselors, nurses, psychologists, and social workers) with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to make schools safe and supportive for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning students."

In June, California added five states to a list of states where taxpayer-funded travel is banned under most circumstances.

"When states discriminate against LGBTQ+ Americans, California law requires our office to take action," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. "Make no mistake: We’re in the midst of an unprecedented wave of bigotry and discrimination in this country — and the State of California is not going to support it."

She shows off all the pride flags in her classroom and says “I pledge allegiance to the queers” pic.twitter.com/eQXe1OfPoW
— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) August" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/libsoftikt... 27, 2021