Utah state lawmakers are fighting to ban the display of Pride flags — but not Nazi or Confederate flags — in schools and on all government property.
Utah’s House Education Committee introduced a bill this week that bans Pride flags in all public schools and other government buildings, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. The bill passed committee — with the only two Democrats voting against it — and is now on its way to the House floor.
The bill allows for “a historic version of a flag…that is temporarily displayed for educational purposes,” which Republican lawmaker Trevor Lee says will include Nazi and Confederate flags, according to the Tribune.
Lee, who first introduced the bill in an effort to “ban Pride flags,” argued displaying the Nazi and Confederate flags may be necessary for a school’s curriculum.
“There are instances where in classrooms, you have curriculum that is needed to use flags such as World War II, Civil War,” Lee told the House committee, according to the Tribune. “You may have a Nazi flag. You may have a Confederate flag, and so you are allowed to display those flags… as part of the curriculum, and that is okay.”
Lee later disputed that he said a Nazi flag could be displayed and claimed that his bill would not allow this in an interview with the Tribune.
“There is a difference between displaying flags in curriculum when you’re teaching on them,” he told the Tribune on Thursday. “You don’t censor history here.”
WhenThe Independent contacted Lee for comment, he said: “You have pronouns in your profile, I can’t take you seriously. Put that in your article.”
Utah residents have spoken out against the bill.
“This ban is unconstitutional and only serves as a means of control over the people,” high school senior Millie Dworkin said during public testimony, according to the Tribune. “You all argue semantics, but you all know this is wrong and immoral.”
“Queer people commit suicide at a higher rate than everybody else…This is not because they are inherently prone to commit suicide due to their sexual orientation or gender identity,” she added. “It is because of how they are treated. If you pass this, you will have queer blood on your hands.”
As Utah lawmakers target the LGBTQ+ community on a state level, President Donald Trump has continued to do so on a national level.
Last month, Trump denied the existence of transgender, nonbinary and intersex people by signing an executive order ordering the government to “recognize two sexes, male and female,” claiming these sexes are “not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.” He later signed an executive order banning trans women and girls from competing in women’s sports.
In response, the Human Rights Campaign said officials have “manufactured a misinformed conversation about elite, adult athletes to justify passing extreme, discriminatory legislation targeting transgender youth in schools.”
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you. In the UK, people having mental health crises can contact the Samaritans at 116 123 or jo@samaritans.org.
