Central Bucks’ new policy is an ‘anti-LGBTQ crusade’

As a queer person in America, I am deeply troubled by the attacks on the LGBTQ community happening across the country. The anti-LGBTQ crusade has made its way to Pennsylvania and is now on display in the Central Bucks School District — one of the largest in the state.

On Tuesday, the Central Bucks school board passed Policy 321, which the board named the “Partisan, Political, or Social Policy Advocacy Activities” policy. In a 6-3 vote, the board decided to ban teachers from hanging Pride flags and other types of “advocacy.”

The policy serves to target and further marginalize LGBTQ students in the school district. Even though the proposed policy makes no explicit mention of LGBTQ status, there should be no confusion about who it targets.

I was once a closeted queer student in high school. I know firsthand the mental and emotional toll that being forced into the shadows can take. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. This is why everyone who believes in freedom, equality, and fairness must do all that we can to defeat these policies. Children’s lives depend on it.

“I was once a closeted queer student in high school.”

The policy is dangerous because, as the Education Law Center argued in an October letter to the school board, the policy will have a “harmful and chilling effect” on classrooms in the school district.

An updated version of the proposal — posted last month by the Bucks County Courier Times — prohibits school district employees from advocating to students “any partisan, political, or social policy issue.” The proposal does not specify what this means but prohibits “flag, banner, poster, sign, sticker, pin, button, insignia, paraphernalia, photograph, or other similar material” related to these partisan, political, or social policies. (The American and Pennsylvania flags are exempt.)

This ambiguity, however, is no accident; it is the point. Because it is unclear what type of speech or actions are prohibited — and because teachers’ jobs are on the line if they violate the policy — many teachers will err on the side of caution and avoid discussing sexual orientation and gender identity altogether.

There is no need to imagine what the future would look like in a school district that has such a policy. The neighboring Pennridge School District enacted a similar policy in September that instructed teachers to remove “advocacy materials” from their classrooms. A day later, the district’s superintendent directed teachers to remove LGBTQ Pride materials.

LGBTQ people — and especially LGBTQ students in school — are entitled to welcoming and loving environments. We are not political statements about which you can agree or disagree. We are not ideas to be debated. We are human beings who deserve to feel safe. Harmful policies like those enacted in Pennridge and Central Bucks are in direct opposition to our safety. The American Civil Liberties Union has already filed a federal complaint alleging that Central Bucks has perpetuated a “hostile environment” for LGBTQ students.

According to estimates from the Trevor Project, 1.8 million LGBTQ youth in the U.S. consider suicide every year and are four times more likely than their peers to attempt suicide. These policies will create hostile and unwelcoming environments that further threaten their lives.

» READ MORE: I’m a trans teen in Central Bucks. Here, it doesn’t ‘get better.’

In the version of Policy 321 updated in December, the Central Bucks school board claims that it aims “to create an optimal learning environment and atmosphere of inclusiveness, where all students are welcome.” Such Orwellian doublespeak obscures the policy’s true purpose: to strip LGBTQ youth of spaces where their identities are acknowledged and affirmed.

And don’t think this is just about LGBTQ students. They are canaries in the coal mine for other students with marginalized identities. The Central Bucks and Pennridge School Districts outline what is to come in other counties in Pennsylvania — and nationwide — as conservative organizing groups look to them as models.

If creating an inclusive learning environment for all students was an actual priority of the Central Bucks School District, the school board would not be implicitly discriminating against LGBTQ students under the guise of “neutrality” — the first word of the policy. The school district would instead encourage teachers to discuss these critical issues, display Pride flags, and help LGBTQ students access lifesaving resources. It seems, however, that the school district is trying to erase its LGBTQ students altogether.

I am not certain what the future of LGBTQ students in schools will be. But I do know that LGBTQ people won’t be pushed back into the closet without a fight, and that fight starts with protecting LGBTQ youth.

Devontae Torriente is a student at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.