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“Don’t pat yourselves on the back for simply instituting a ‘Diversity Week’ when the students participating in it have zero understanding of what it means to respect diversity,” one woman wrote. The district did not comment on whether the student who removed the pride flag would face discipline, as several have called for.Ī few individuals also flooded the high school’s recent Facebook posts with comments. Smith said he does not believe the school has any intentions to permanently hang any of those or the pride flag in the future. Smith said, too, that there was no intention to cover up any other flag, which some have said was disrespectful and say may have prompted the student to remove the LGBTQ flag.Īll of the flags representing countries will also be removed at the end of the week. The school, he said, had planned to remove the flag after the gay-straight alliance event was over. In a statement from the district condemning the action, Smith added: “This type of incident reminds us of the importance of continually educating students, not just during a Diversity Week, on the importance of respecting one another and the right to attend school, participate in events, and learn in a safe and respectful school environment.” “We’ve been talking to those students this morning to make sure they feel OK and like it’s a good environment for them to return to,” he noted. The principal of Ridgeline High did not return requests for comment Wednesday.īut Smith said the school is reaching out specifically to LGBTQ students who may feel unsafe after the incident. Others called on the school and Cache County School District to take action. “We need to all accept everyone for who they are, even if we don’t agree.” “Just because you don’t support them (LGBTQ individuals) and aren’t a part of that community, doesn’t give you the right to disrespect them,” he said. One person wrote anonymously in a comment on one of the videos, identifying himself as a student, saying he was “ashamed” of what happened. Embarrassing moment for Utahns and Ridgeline High School. The amount of kids cheering when the Pride flag gets cut down is sickening. “And neither the school nor the school district condones the insensitive and disrespectful removal of the flag, which was done without permission.” “It was put up specifically for that event,” Smith noted. It occurred shortly before an event where the gay-straight alliance clubs for several neighboring schools were set to meet at Ridgeline High, confirmed Cache County School District spokesperson Tim Smith. The incident came on the second day of the school’s Diversity Week.
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Several students shared it originally and privately on Snapchat, and screen recordings of those accounts have also been posted on Twitter and Facebook.
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Video of the incident has since circulated widely on social media, identifying the school and including in the background of the footage the school’s iconic green hawk mascot. The colorful fabric wafted down to the ground as a few attending Ridgeline High School in Millville laughed. As those below him clapped and cheered, a student at a Utah high school ripped down a pride flag representing the LGBTQ community Tuesday that had been hanging on the second floor above the commons.