LGBTQ+ Flag Destroyed at LA Elementary School Ahead of Pride Event

An LGBTQ+ flag placed in a plant pot outside of a classroom at Saticoy Elementary School was lit on fire, the flag was destroyed, and it is being investigated as a possible hate crime, according to Los Angeles Police Department.

According to the Los Angeles Daily News, "The school has been the focus of a group of parents who are objecting to an upcoming Pride Day assembly on Friday, June 2, at which the school plans to teach children about LGBTQ+ identities during a book reading."

"The investigation is ongoing. It is a vandalism hate crime. The hate crime is still significant but it is a misdemeanor," said Los Angeles Police Department, said Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton on May 27. "The investigation is ongoing. It is a vandalism hate crime. The hate crime is still significant but it is a misdemeanor," he continued.

The blackened planter and burned flag were discovered by school personnel on Monday, May 22, at 6:30 a.m., Hamilton said. He did not know when the planter and flag were burned and there are no suspects, he said.

The event occurred after some conservative parents families urged others to "keep your children home and innocent" on Friday, June 2, when the school is holding a pride-oriented assembly that will include discussion of LGBTQ+ parents, wrote the Daily News in a separate report.

The Daily News adds that the group, Saticoy Elementary Parents, says on its Instagram page that the school has a significant population of Armenian and Hispanic families who "share conservative values" and "don't feel this material is appropriate to teach to the children."

According to LAUSD, the assembly will include a reading of "The Great Big Book of Families" by Mary Hoffman, which describes family types including multi-cultural families, multi-racial families, single parent families and families with LGBTQ+ parents.

"We have a real concern over what is going on," said Renato Lira, director of the San Fernando Valley LGBTQ Center. "We have three teachers who are LGBTQ at that campus. And two parents are LGBTQ who bring their kids to that school."

He said volunteers from the center will walk alongside the LGBTQ parents en route to school on June 2 and LAPD will be present.

The Daily News reports that the parents who object to the book-reading assembly on June 2 will also be present, handing out flyers and encouraging parents to take their children home.

Lira would not name the teacher who placed the flag in the planter that was later burned. He said his group and the teacher have draped a larger LGBTQ+ flag on the teacher's classroom window. "We raised that flag to let them know we are going to be stronger and united," he said.