Missouri teacher resigns after school district tells him to remove pride flag, not discuss sexuality

[Jilly_in_VA]

A Missouri teacher resigned last week after parents complained about a pride flag in his classroom and the district told him to take it down.

John M. Wallis was recently hired to teach speech, theatre and world mythology at Neosho Junior High School. He has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights.

In a series of tweets over Labor Day weekend, Wallis explained what led to his exit.

"At the beginning of the school year, I had two signs above my whiteboards that read 'In this classroom everyone is welcome' and an LGBTQ+ pride flag on my bookshelf," he wrote on Twitter. "This was an attempt to make my classroom more open and welcoming for all of my students and nothing was ever taught about the flag because it stood there as a reflection of my classroom as a safe space for my LGBTQIA+ students."

Wallis, 22, said he was told last week that a parent complained and alleged that he was "going to teach their child to be gay."

"I was then instructed to take my flag and signs down," he wrote on Twitter. "In fact, the use of the pride flag in my classroom was compared to hanging the Confederate flag in my classroom."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/09/08/southwest-missouri-teacher-resigns-after-school-district-ordered-lgbtq-pride-flag-removed/5767266001/