Los Angeles School District Urges Students To Celebrate Pride Month With ‘LGBTQ+’ Coloring Books, ‘Ally Pledge Cards,’ And ‘LGBTQ+ Bingo’

 The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) encouraged students to celebrate Pride Month with coloring books of “LGBTQ icons,” creating “ally pledge cards,” and playing “LGBTQ+ Bingo.”

An interactive graphic posted to the LAUSD Human Relations, Diversity, and Equity website urges students to “Celebrate Pride” and offers several suggestions on how to do so. The coloring book was produced by the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network (GLSEN), an organization that says it works “to prompt LGBT cultural inclusion” in schools.

The first illustration in the coloring book is of “We’Wha,” an “Indigenous Two-Spirit Zuni tribe member from New Mexico.” The coloring book goes on to say, “As a child being two-spirit, We’Wha learned a mixture of Zuni feminine and masculine traditional roles.”

The graphic from LAUSD also encouraged students to create and distribute “ally pledge cards,” directing them to a website called “Straight for Equality.” 

“Many allies are looking for a good way to explain why they’re an ally and we’ve got a solution,” the website reads. The pledge cards include the prompt, “I’m an ally because,” along with a blank space where students can explain their reasons.

The graphic also provides students and teachers with “LGBTQ+ Bingo” templates, which include terms like “inclusive curriculum,” “drag con,” “name/pronouns,” and “BIPOC” (Black, Indigenous, People of Color). It also includes “PFLAG,” an organization that supports “LGBTQ+” people and their families that has created a “Transgender Reading List for Children.” 

 

Meanwhile, more than 100 parents protested a Friday Pride Day assembly in front of LAUSD’s Saticoy Elementary School in North Hollywood. Many parents wore shirts that read “Leave Our Kids Alone,” while at least one held a sign that read “No Pride In Grooming.” The parents were met with counter-protesters who carried signs with messages such as “Protect Trans and Non-Binary Youth.” Violence ensued, and police intervened.

The Los Angeles Unified School District is the second largest school district in the country, with more than 500,000 enrolled students. LAUSD did not respond to a request for comment.