An impassioned group of California parents broke out in a no holds barred brawl over Glendale Unified School District’s board meeting about including LGBTQ+ curriculum topics in the kid’s classes. The fight happened on Tuesday, June 6, and about 200 people were involved, according to KTLA.
The Glendale Unified School District parents were split on support and opposition for the proposed curriculum, and the fight escalated so much that at least three people were reportedly arrested during the incident. Glendale police issued a dispersal order around 6:15 PM based on unlawful assembly, and they set extensive barricades to control the crowds as they started to get rowdy. Not everyone resorted to violence, but authorities stated that a “small group of individuals engaged in behavior deemed unsafe and a risk to public safety.”
Officers on the scene threatened to use a chemical agent against violent protests. Opposing sides were seen throwing insults and hateful words at each other before physically attacking one another. Reportedly, the anti-LGBTQ+ resorted to violence first.
The school board meeting discussing gender ideology isn’t foreign to Glendale parents, as it’s been a practice for years. The school has been including LGBTQ+ studies since 2019 but continues to meet every year to reconsider approval.
A parent opposing the curriculum told the outlet, “Bringing in curriculum for K-6 on gender ideology, that is what we’re against.”
Another continued, “We were talking about children. They are not ready for such choices. It confuses them, and ultimately these are things that parents should decide.”
On the other hand, the superintendent of the Glendale School District, Vivian Ekchian, expressed her disagreement with the opposition.
“Our primary focus in our school district is to be inclusive,” said Vekchian. “Every student matters every family member matters. We do follow state laws and California Department of Education guidelines.”
Another supporter added, “They should be taught because so many of them already at three years old know who they are, and they need to know the options they have in life. To close them off, to shut down the questions that they already have in their minds. I wish there were books out there that I could turn to, mentors out there I could turn to, or the facilities out there I could turn to because I grew up feeling totally alone.”
