School display of LGBT flags that discriminate by race

Sheboygan Falls High School displays “Progress Pride” flags that represent only select races

Apr 05, 2023

Graphic referenced by DPI’s Wisconsin Safe and Healthy Schools Center

My colleagues on the school board yesterday declined to consider a resolution to prevent display of discriminatory flags. Various places in Sheboygan Falls High School, including the display case and Instagram account for the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA), display the LGBT “Progress Pride” flag. The colors in the flag have defined meanings, which include some students and exclude others based on race and sexual preference.

DPI designation of the flag’s meaning

The Wisconsin Safe and Healthy Schools Center (WISH) is a collaborative project between the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and the Cooperative Educational Services Agency Statewide Network.1 The WISH Center page on GSAFE trainings features a resource to “Learn about meaning of the colors of the Progress Pride Flag”.2 The resource is Verywell Mind’s website, which lists pink, baby blue, and white as representing “trans people” and the black and brown colors as representing “people of color", defined as “non-white individuals”.3

School symbols should be for everyone

Policy 2260 prohibits this sort of racial discrimination. In our school, we are proud of the accomplishments of all our students, not just those of select gender identities and races. Nor is there any need to fly a flag that excludes some people to promote others. We already promote everyone when we proudly fly the American Flag and declare daily how it stands for one nation “with liberty and justice for all.”