This week to celebrate Pride Month, Trumbull High School was asked to put up a pride flag but the idea was almost immediately shut down. When the Dean of students, Dennis McLaughlin, was asked by a senior to add a flag to the school flag poles, he refused the request, using excuses such as Trumbull being a conservative town (ignoring the fact that even the Trumbull town hall hung a pride flag).  McLaughlin continued for twenty minutes with a singular student explaining to them how the pride flag did not include everyone and therefore could not be hung up. 

In protest, a pride flag was anonymously hung up on a school flag pole as well as signs saying “we will not be silenced” for students to see this past Friday, June 11th. The flag stayed up the entire day, but when students went to the school the following day, Saturday, June 12th, the flag was missing. Rather than draw any attention to the issue, the administration decided it would be better to quietly take down the flag so as to not receive negative press while quite literally silencing their students.

Instead of fostering a safe space for all students, regardless of gender, sexuality, race, or any other factor, it seems the administration would rather push a singular social and political agenda. This is a high school where children are supposed to learn to become adults. How are students supposed to learn values of love and acceptance if their administration does not hold such qualities? How can their queer students learn to accept themselves if THS is openly making excuses as to not respect them.

Please help us get a pride flag flown at our school! Our voices deserve to be heard, THS lgbtq+ students deserve to feel safe and wanted at our school. We have been ignored by our school for too long, we will not accept their refusal to accept, support, and represent ALL members of the student body any longer.