Earlier this month, a photo of a sign posted at a Wisconsin high school went viral. Showing a Mama Bear surrounded by three cubs—one rainbow-colored, one striped like the transgender flag, and the third colored blue and shades of purple (if this is another alphabet soup identity, I can’t identify it) – it read: “If your parents aren’t accepting of your identity, I’m your mom now #freemomhugs.”
The photo was shared on Twitter by Parents Defending Education (a “national grassroots non-profit empowering parents to advocate for classrooms that educate, not indoctrinate”) and by several social conservative activists on Facebook. Teri Piper Thompson of the Eau Claire Area School District confirmed to Newsweek that the sign had, in fact, been hung up at North High School but had been taken down.
Apparently, this sign had been hung up by a number of teachers. The context of this is particularly disturbing. According to Newsweek, the school district recently had equity professional development training which included this: “Late last month, teachers attended a staff development day in which content included a slide with direction to teachers that ‘…parents are not entitled to know their kids’ identities. That knowledge must be earned.'” Read more…