Utah is closer to banning the display of pride flags in K-12 classrooms and government buildings after a Senate Education Committee hearing. (Getty Images)
Building on past Republican efforts, Utah is one step closer to banning the display of pride flags in K-12 classrooms and government buildings after a 4-1 Senate Education Committee vote Friday morning.
HB77, from Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton, has eight amendments, and has undergone several changes over the course of several weeks to make sure certain flags — including those with Olympic symbols and certain historic flags, at one point including Nazi and Confederate flags — could be displayed.
Lee told the committee that his bill, HB77, is about “political neutrality.”
“We want to make sure that if there is something that’s considered political and makes someone feel uncomfortable, that they shouldn’t have to worry about the government pushing and enforcing or pushing any type of ideology on anyone,” Lee said.
The bill defines flags as a piece of fabric with a design “that symbolizes a location, government entity, or cause.” It also allows historic versions of Utah and U.S. flags to be displayed.
Over 20 people spoke in opposition to the bill during the public comment period of the hearing. Several people questioned whether international flags could be displayed, which is permitted in the law, and others brought up concerns that students may feel targeted by the legislation.
Kevin Labresh, a school psychologist, said some school districts already have guidelines in place for displaying flags and the voting body should consider the intent of the bill versus the impact.
“Many of our LGBTQ students will share freely that they feel targeted and erased by bills like these,” he said. “Those are the voices I think we need to be paying attention to, especially when you look at what research says about higher rates of bullying, depression and suicidal ideation that this community experiences, so this visual representation is very important to them.”
Anna McNamer, a middle school teacher, said the bill is an example of “gross government overreach.”
“It’s important that our communities and our teachers are able to focus their skills on where it matters. Whether it’s their community or their classroom, our state government should not have the ability to violate these freedoms of speech,” she said. “Our government should not be able to give us a list of appropriate or correct flags to display at any time in a secular education setting.”
The original pride flag, an eight-striped flag with traditional rainbow colors along with pink and turquoise in it, was designed by Gilbert Baker at the request of San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California history, in 1978. Milk wanted queer people to have a symbol of pride for their community.
“This rainbow flag represents so much more than just a community,” Kat Kellermeyer, a Salt Lake City resident told the committee, after recapping the pride flag’s history. “It represents the queer community’s full spirited hope (and) resilience against efforts to erase us. To define what is and is not historic sets dangerous precedent, especially when it comes to this community.”
Sen. Heidi Balderree, R-Saratoga Springs, said while she agrees that local control is best, “we continue to have this bill before us, because the problem has not been mitigated.”
“I see these kind of propaganda in multiple classrooms,” she said. “It’s not just one in a school, it’s in multiple classrooms, so the problem has not been fixed, and they’ve had time to fix it. And so, in the absence of this problem being addressed by local schools, which it clearly has not been, we’re here today.”
Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, pointed out that the latest version of the bill tasks the state auditor with enforcing flag displays, instead of local school districts. She said that provision was “comical” given former State Auditor John Dougall’s frustration last year with his office being put in charge of enforcing a law requiring individuals to use the bathroom that matches their biological sex in government and public buildings. Dougall criticized the legislature for making him a “bathroom monitor” last year in a series of videos posted to X.
Ava Curtis spoke in opposition to the bill, and said she appreciated a teacher who displayed a pride flag in the classroom when she was in middle school and had not “come out” to anyone in her life yet.
“I was dealing with bullying and going through a very difficult time, but what this did was it made me feel safe and seen in his classroom,” Curtis, now an adult, said. “It was mentioned that this bill is about political neutrality, but our lives are not political. Queer people’s identities should not be seen as political.”
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