Group of Windsor High students don red, white and blue and Gadsen flag to protest LGBTQ event

A National Coming Out Day celebration on the Windsor High School campus last week was protested by a group of students who wore red, white and blue and versions of the “Don’t Tread on Me” Gadsden flag on the same day as the school event.

Students had been encouraged to wear rainbow colors to school on Oct. 11 as part of the celebration, which was hosted on campus by the Gender and Sexuality Alliance Club in support of people who publicly “come out” as a member of the LGBTQ community, said Heather Bailey, a Windsor Unified School District spokeswoman.

Student organizers played music through a speaker and sold pronoun and pride pins to financially benefit the club as part of the event, she added.

The national event is founded on the idea that homophobia thrives in silence and people who know someone who is a member of the LGBTQ community are less likely to be homophobic.

On the same day, though, about 10 students who objected to the event chose to participate in a protest, which had been organized via social media, Windsor High School Principal Brian Williams said.

“Someone had commented (online) that students should wear red, white and blue to show that they are not in favor of having this day,” Williams said.

Students celebrating National Coming Out Day told school officials the protesters threw food and yelled at them. But school staff who reviewed campus surveillance cameras as part of their investigation into the allegations could not identify specific culprits, Williams said.

While a teacher initiated a “restorative process” that involved one of the students who protested the LGBTQ event — a practice that included school administrators and members of the student’s family — no one was formally disciplined, Williams said.

He declined to say why administrators talked to that particular student.

Williams also said he did not find anything wrong with the protesters’ choice to wear red, white, and blue, as well as clothing that contained the Gadsen flag, which has historically symbolized resistance to perceived government overreach and in recent years been adopted by white supremacist groups.

Students are protected under the First Amendment, which affords them the right to protest on campus as long as they don’t pose a “clear and present danger” to the safety and normal operation of the school, Williams said.

He added that the protesting students’ choice of clothing did not create a safety issue.

Still, in an email, written in Spanish and English, that was sent to parents to inform them of the protest, school officials said, “the behavior of some of the protesting students during Monday’s event did not rise to the level of inclusivity and a community mindset that we expect at Windsor High School.”

Williams added that the area where the National Coming Out Day event was held, coincidentally was near a gathering spot where the students who participated in the protest normally hang out.

“Was it unfortunate? Yes,” he said of the proximity of the two groups. “I feel if I was a student seeing that, I would feel intimidated.”

A planned event held on the Windsor High campus Thursday encouraged students to wear purple to stand up against bullying, specifically in support of members of the LGBTQ community.

In an interview early in the day, Williams said he was not aware of any protests similar to the one at the school on Oct. 11.

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @nashellytweets.