Portland, Maine’s Board of Education is scheduled to vote this afternoon on a resolution that would turn a spate of threatening letters into a teaching opportunity. [Update: the board approved the resolution.]
According to the Portland Press Herald, over the past month eight complaints have been made to the police by recipients of the letters, which “contained an image of a rainbow pride flag with the Satanic Temple logo on it, along with a threatening message that contained a slur against gay people.”
Reports the Press Herald:
Because the eight recipients of the threatening letters each flew a gay pride flag or a Black Lives Matter flag on their properties, the board, as part of a resolution being drafted, also would like to see “pride stickers, posters, flags and other queer-positive images in the classrooms and elsewhere in our schools.”
The board at a workshop last week discussed a resolution that “commits to rooting out homophobia in our schools, creating a LGBTQ-positive culture, and ensuring that LGBTQ students see themselves in the curriculum.” The resolution will encouraging teachers and staff to “engage in age-appropriate conversations with students about the recent incidents to bring these injustices to light.”
Chairperson Emily Figdor, who drafted the resolution, said the board must take a firm stance to show LGBTQ students, staff and families that such acts as the recent hate letters won’t be tolerated in the schools.
“This is an important issue and I am glad the board is on record standing in solidarity,” board member Anna Trevorrow said. …
The board is scheduled to vote on the resolution Tuesday, Feb. 2. Figdor said she hopes the final wording will reflect input from students and asked the board’s student representatives to bring the topic up with their classmates.
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