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Students at a Boston-area high school were charged with homophobia and intolerance by education officials after they tore down rainbow decorations and chanted that “USA” was their pronoun during “expressions of intolerance and homophobia.”
Students from Marshall Simonds Middle School in Burlington were invited to wear rainbow-colored clothing on June 2 in honor of Pride Month, Fox affiliate, Boston 25 News reported.
“That same day there was a counter-demonstration in response to what should have been a holiday. Students wore red, white and blue clothes, chanted ‘my pronouns are USA’ and destroyed rainbow decorations at school,” says Nancy Bonassera. co-chair of the Burlington Equity Coalition said at Monday’s limited board meeting.
“These expressions of bigotry and homophobia are unacceptable and affect the entire community,” she added.
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Some students at Marshall Simonds Middle School in Burlington disrupted a Pride event by destroying rainbow decorations and chanting “USA” is their pronouns, school officials said. (Google Maps)
The controversy began when the school’s LGBTQ+ student body invited students to wear the Pride colors and handed out rainbow stickers, the Boston Globe reported.
A letter from school administrators to parents said some students chanted “USA is my pronouns” and had intimidated students who supported the event.
“I want to publicly declare my solidarity and support for the members of the LGBTQ community affected by these events,” school principal Cari Perchase wrote in the joint letter with Superintendent Eric Conti. “I’m really sorry that a day that was meant for you to celebrate your identity turned into a day of intolerance.”
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Selected board member Michael Espejo said a “bad light has been cast on our city,” CBS Boston reported.
“I was very upset, it kept me awake,” Espejo said of the incident. “It shocked me to the bone. I didn’t think something like this could happen in Burlington.”
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Governor Maura Healey, one of the country’s first two lesbian governors, said she was disappointed by what happened at the school, Boston reported, 25 News.
“I hope it will be a learning moment for the young people involved,” Healey said. “It doesn’t represent who we are as a state.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Burlington school district for more information, but has not heard back yet.
