Outraged parents are calling for a boycott of a North Hollywood elementary school after it scheduled a Pride event.
They now plan to keep their children home from Saticoy Elementary School on June 2, when the district plans to hold a “Rainbow Day,” where students and children will read “The ledger of families.
The book shines a light on families from different backgrounds, including same-sex parents and other LGBTQ+ relationships, interracial couples, and adoptive families, among others.
The parents have now launched an Instagram page and passed around flyers for the protest, reading: ‘Keep your kids home and innocent’.
“We respect everyone, but some things are appropriate for children (of) this age, and some things are not,” said George Dzhabroyan, a parent dissatisfied with the school.
In a statement, the Los Angeles Unified School District said parents can choose to have their child skip the assembly where the book will be read.
Outraged parents are calling for a boycott of a North Hollywood elementary school after it scheduled a Pride event. “We respect everyone, but some things are suitable for children (of) this age, and some things are not,” said George Dzhabroyan, a disgruntled parent at the school.
‘The Great Big Book of Families’ will be read during the Pride event and will highlight families from different backgrounds, including same-sex parents and other LGBTQ+ relationships, interracial couples, adoptive families, and more .
According to the parents’ Instagram page, alongside the reading of the book, material mentioning LGBTQ+ topics will be discussed at the event.
“Videos will be shown to students, including one where it says ‘some kids have 2 moms, some have 2 dads,'” the page claims.
A recent article indicates that Saticoy’s student body includes a large population of Armenian and Hispanic families who consider themselves Christian.
Parents say they “do not think this material is appropriate for teaching children and believe it is the parents’ right to choose”.
Saticoy, angry parents say, has around 500 students and the protesting group has reportedly received 400 signatures on a petition against the event.
In addition to letting their children stay home on June 2, families plan to stand outside the elementary school and protest the Pride festivities.
“I hope the message will get through and people will understand that parents should be the primary contact for what their children should be exposed to and should not be exposed to,” Dzhabroyan said. KTLA.
The group says all LGBTQ+ topics are sexually explicit in nature and their children shouldn’t be forced to learn such things so early.
“Our kids are innocent and have no idea what’s going on,” reads Instagram. “As a parent, we have the right to introduce these topics at our discretion.”
A leaflet distributed by parents protesting ‘Rainbow Day’ at Saticoy Primary School
‘Rainbow Day’ is set to take place at Saticoy Elementary School in North Hollywood
An Instagram page has been started by angry Saticoy parents protesting LGBTQ+ events and rallying behind the upcoming protest
“Our kids are innocent and have no idea what’s going on,” reads Instagram. “As a parent, we have the right to introduce these topics at our discretion”
In addition to their calls for a boycott of “Rainbow Day” and their planned protest, the parents have been active on social media demanding the dismissal of Saticoy officials.
In a post, the Instagram page shared a photo of Saticoy manager Maria Awakian along with her phone number, urging parents to call her about the event.
‘Get her out!!! It’s not up to you to teach our kids about LGBT,’ one person wrote.
“Shame on you, Avakian. You have no morals or respect for our school,” another wrote.
The group shared the phone numbers and emails of several other Saticoy and Los Angeles Unified School District officials, calling on parents to take action.
Support was bolstered on social media where others weighed in, applauding parents for standing up to the school district’s “agenda”.
‘I don’t think parents are trying to incite hatred. I just think parents are trying to protect their children. I think primary school is too young to talk about sex of any kind’ ‘, one person wrote in a YouTube comment.
“It’s a moral question for a lot of good people who don’t hate anyone,” another added.
“I can see it’s for high school juniors and seniors, but anything below that is just too young in my opinion,” one commenter remarked.
“It was scary when I first read it,” said Roberto Salcedo. If you really read it for what it is, it’s to incite hatred against people who are different’
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Unified School District told DailyMail.com that LGBTQ+ conversations regularly take place in the district.
“Los Angeles Unified is committed to creating a safe and inclusive learning environment that embraces the diversity of the communities we serve.
“The District encourages all members of our school communities to treat each other with respect, kindness, and compassion so that our students can be empowered to achieve their greatest potential.
“As part of our engagement with school communities, our schools regularly discuss the diversity of the families we serve and the importance of inclusion.
“This remains an active discussion with our school communities and we remain committed to continuing to engage with families on this important topic,” the statement said.
Some on the other side of the argument say that the flyers distributed by the angry parents shocked them and that the parents are simply trying to “incite hatred”.
“It was scary when I first read it,” said Roberto Salcedo. If you really read it for what it is, it’s to incite hatred against different people.
“The message I want parents to get is that we are all different and we all need to respect our differences,” Salcedo continued.
