Tennessee bill would ban pride flags from public, charter schools

A proposed bill in Tennessee would make it illegal for public and charter schools to display any flag other than the U.S. flag and Tennessee state flag, targeting “political” symbols such as LGBTQ pride flags.

House Bill 1605, introduced in November, states an “LEA [local educational agency] or public charter school shall not display any flag other than the United States flag and the official Tennessee state flag on or in a public school.”

The proposed legislation is sponsored by state Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood), who said he was moved to introduce the bill following heated discussions among parents on the Williamson County School Board over the placement of political flags within an educational environment, per reports from The Tennessean.

In September, Williamson County’s school district leaders got an earful from the community after it was suggested the school board consider banning pride flags from the classroom, according to local reports.

“A school should be a place where a child goes to learn, not a place where a child goes to be indoctrinated,” Bulso said, according to The Tennessean. He argued the bill is intended to stop “authority figures from injecting into the classroom these political statements.” 

The Hill reached out for comment from Bulso’s office.

The bill could also target several other political and cultural flags, including the Black Lives Matter flag.

While Tennessee law already mandates that all public schools display the U.S. flag, the passage of HB 1605 could make it the first state to adopt a statewide ban on political flags in public classrooms.

The legislation follows a wave of nationwide attempts to remove the pride flag from the public and educational sphere. According to the Gilbert Baker Foundation, named after the creator of the iconic rainbow flag in 1978, more than 40 communities across the country have implemented bans on the flag.

On Monday, Florida state Rep. David Borrero (R) filed House Bill 901 for review in the new year. Similar to the proposed legislation in Tennessee, HB 901 calls for prohibitions on the flying of any flag that represents “a political viewpoint, including, but not limited to, a politically partisan, racial, sexual orientation and gender, or political ideology viewpoint.”

The Gilbert Baker Foundation said it sees these growing attempts to ban the pride flag as part of a “rise in American conservative censorship,” referring to the host of right-wing calls for book bans and curriculum changes that have dominated recent political discourse.

In response, the organization launched its “Save the Rainbow” national campaign and filed an open letter in partnership with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation in February, arguing that efforts to ban the pride flag explicitly violate First Amendment rights granted to students attending public schools.