On May 12, the Watertown Unified School District Board of Education voted 7-1 to ban "A Mother of a Revolution" from the high school Wind Symphony's spring concert — six days before students were set to perform it. The students had rehearsed the piece for an entire school year. The board called it "indoctrination." They called it a "celebration of violence." And then they took it away from the kids who had worked hardest to bring it to life.

This was not a close call. It was not a difficult decision. It was a deliberate choice by seven elected officials to erase a piece of music — an instrumental piece, with no lyrics — simply because it was dedicated to a transgender civil rights activist. The Stonewall Uprising, which inspired the work, is recognized by a national monument. The piece is on Wisconsin School Music Association festival lists. And band director Reid LaDew did everything the district's own policy required: he notified parents in October, gave families the option to opt out, and only one student chose to do so.

The board knew. They let it proceed for months. Then, six days before the concert, they pulled it anyway.

The impact on students was immediate and real. Wendy Pliska, whose son is in the band, put it plainly: "Frankly, the kids are scared. They wanted to come and play the piece that they practiced so hard, and now, not only has that been taken from them, but they're thrust into the spotlight." A seventh-grade trombone player, Camila Siebenlist, stood at the podium and told the board directly: "To hear them play a piece by an LGBTQ composer would mean so much — whether they're trans, gay, whatever, because you're accepting them, you're letting the students that need to be accepted to be accepted." The board voted to ban it anyway.

Board Vice President Sam Ouweneel, one of the seven who voted yes, was clear about his reasoning: "This is a perfect example of what everyone here ran on, which was ending indoctrination and radical curriculum." That is not an educational standard. That is a political agenda — one that comes at the direct expense of students, teachers, and the LGBTQ+ community in Watertown.

The concert went on May 18 without the piece. But the story isn't over. Composer Omar Thomas traveled to Watertown this week to conduct a free community performance of "A Mother of a Revolution" — because he believes the people of this town deserve to hear it. The community showed up. One board member, President Laurie Hoffmann, voted against the ban. That vote took courage. The other seven chose politics over students.

We are calling on the seven school board members who voted to ban "A Mother of a Revolution" — including Board Vice President Sam Ouweneel, Board Treasurer Carl Schwarze, and board member Christina DeGrave — to resign from the Watertown Unified School District Board of Education immediately.

Photo via wpr.org