Outraged parents are pushing for a boycott of a North Hollywood elementary school after it planned a Pride event.
They now plan to keep their kids home from Saticoy Elementary on June 2, when the district plans to hold a “Rainbow Day,” when students and children will read “The Great Big Book of Families.”
The book highlights families from diverse backgrounds, including same-sex parents and other LGBTQ+ relationships, interracial couples, and adoptive families.
Parents have since started an Instagram page and distributed flyers for the protest, saying, “Keep your kids home and innocent.”
‘We respect everyone, but some things are suitable for children (of) that 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 meeting where the book will be read.
Outraged parents are pushing for a boycott of a North Hollywood elementary school after it planned a Pride event. “We respect everyone, but some things are suitable for children[of]that age, and others are not,” says George Dzhabroyan, a parent who is not happy with the school.
“The Great Big Book of Families” is read at the Pride event and highlights families from diverse backgrounds, including same-sex parents and other LGBTQ+ relationships, interracial couples, adoptive families, and more
According to the parents’ Instagram page, materials that mention LGBTQ+ topics will be discussed during the event along with reading the book.
Videos will be shown to the students, including one that says, “some kids have 2 mommies, some have 2 daddies,” the page claims.
A recent report states that the Saticoy student group includes a large population of Armenian and Hispanic families who consider themselves Christians.
The parents say they “don’t think this material is appropriate for teaching children and that it’s a parent’s right to choose.”
Saticoy, the angry parents say, has a population of about 500 students and the protesting group is said to have obtained 400 signatures on a petition against the event.
In addition to keeping their children home on June 2, the families plan to stand outside the primary school and protest the Pride-related festivities.
“Hopefully the message gets across and people understand that parents should be the primary contact of what their children should and shouldn’t be exposed to,” Dzhabroyan said. KTLA.
The group claims that all LGBTQ+ topics are sexually explicit in nature and their children should not be forced to learn about such things so early.
“Our kids are innocent and have no idea what’s out there,” reads an Instagram post. “We as a parent have the right to introduce these topics as we see fit.”
A flyer handed out by parents protesting “Rainbow Day” at Saticoy Elementary School
The ‘Rainbow Day’ takes place at Saticoy Elementary School in North Hollywood
An Instagram page has been launched by some angry Saticoy parents protesting the LGBTQ+ events and campaigning for the upcoming protest
“Our kids are innocent and have no idea what’s out there,” reads an Instagram post. “We as a parent have the right to bring in these topics as we see fit”
On top of their calls to boycott the ‘Rainbow Day’ and their planned protest, the parents have been active on social media calling for the firing of Saticoy officials.
In one post, the Instagram page shared a photo of Saticoy Principal 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 children to be LGBT,” one person wrote.
‘Shame on you, Avakian. You have no morals or respect for our school,” another wrote.
The group has shared phone numbers and emails of several other officials from Saticoy and within the Los Angeles Unified School District, urging parents to take action.
Support has been bolstered on social media where others have chimed in and applauded the parents for championing the school district’s “agenda.”
“I don’t think the parents want to incite hatred. I just think parents are trying to protect their kids. I think elementary school is too young to talk about sexual relations of any kind,” one person wrote in a YouTube comment.
“It’s a moral issue for a lot of good people who don’t hate anyone,” added another.
“I see this is for high school students and seniors, but anything below that is just too young in my opinion,” one commenter noted.
“It was chilling when I first read it,” said Roberto Salcedo. If you really read it for what it is, it is to incite hatred against people who are different’
A Los Angeles Unified School District spokesperson told DailyMail.com that LGBTQ+ conversations are regularly held 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 everyone in our school communities to treat each other with respect, kindness, and compassion so that our students are empowered to reach their greatest potential.
“As part of our commitment to 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 the leaflets distributed by angry parents shocked them and that the parents are merely trying to ‘incite hatred’.
“It was chilling when I first read it,” said Roberto Salcedo. If you really read it for what it is, it is to incite hatred against people who are different.
“The message I want parents to realize is that we are all different and we should all respect our differences,” Salcedo continued.