Glendale, California, parents who were present at Tuesday’s school board meeting are sharing the inside story about their protest against sexual curriculum content that erupted into violence.
Three people were arrested outside the Glendale Unified School District’s headquarters when parents concerned about sexual and LGBT curriculum content clashed with Antifa activists.
Families of kids in the district, particularly the Armenian American and Hispanic communities, planned Tuesday’s protest after months of demonstrating and speaking out at school board meetings.
The parents are calling for more transparency and an end to certain LGBT curriculum and policies that they say are at least completely age-inappropriate.
“It’s just been parents asking for transparency, parents asking for rights, parents asking to stop certain curriculum K through 8th grade, and it’s basically like talking to a wall,” Arno, the father of a child in kindergarten in the district, told The Daily Wire.
Arno said he has been a Glendale resident for 35 years and attended district schools.
“We have the right to teach our kids what we want, and the curriculum that’s basically being shoved down our parents’ throats and our kids’ throats is against our morals, it’s against our values, and it’s against a lot of people’s religious beliefs,” Arno said.
Another father named Ervin, who has two children in the district, said he recently inquired about an upcoming lesson on LGBT topics and Pride month, and the school said he had to physically go to the school to view the content.
“They’re proving that they’re not being transparent, and they probably know most parents don’t have time to take out of their day to go down and watch like a 10 minute piece of content, but I did,” Ervin told The Daily Wire.
“Why do elementary kids need to learn about sexual orientation or who they want to have sex with? Like, eight, nine year olds are not thinking about who they’re gonna have sex with,” the dad said.
Arno said some parents have complained about their children allegedly changing in the same locker room as children of the opposite gender.
“We had a third grade child ask his father if he was gay,” Arno said.
Arno said he got to the meeting several hours early and saw four individuals “gearing up” in helmets, face masks, brass knuckles, and pepper spray. The individuals appeared to be in their 20s, he said.
The dad said he asked the group why they were there, and they told him it was “none of your business.” He said he alerted the Glendale police, who were present nearby.
The protest turned violent later in the day.
Men wearing shirts that read, “Leave our kids alone,” can be seen brawling with masked black-clad Antifa members, according to video footage of the incident.
“When the brawl broke out, the parents were basically poked and poked and poked,” Arno said. “A bear can be poked so many times before it strikes back.”
Inside at the meeting, one teacher who supports LGBT themes in the curriculum and described herself as an advocate for transgender youth, singled out Armenian parents specifically.
“Armenians talk about the genocide that they received,” the teacher said. “But they don’t want to talk about the indigenous genocide in 1850, and the lack of reparations for indigenous and black people in this country,” the teacher said.
Both Arno and Ervin are Armenian American.
The school district released a statement in the aftermath of the incident essentially saying that LGBT curriculum content is mandated by the California legislature and Department of Education.
The district said they “encourage” parents to ask questions and be engaged in their kids’ education, but parents say they have been shut out of the conversation.
California Governor Gavin Newsom weighed in as well, accusing parents of participating in a “campaign of hate.”
Arno emphasized that he wants to combat this “misinformation” about hate toward the LGBT community.
“As far as spewing this misinformation about the Armenian community hating the LGBTQ community, that is probably the most false fact that’s out there,” he said. “Because we have friends, family in that community. All we’re asking for is transparency and parental and children’s rights in the school district.”
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