Ohio teacher sues school district over removal of LGBTQ classroom poster

A high school teacher in Ohio is suing the school district after the district removed a classroom LGBTQ poster that read “Hate Has No Home Here.”

An unnamed teacher identified in legal documents only as “John Doe” sued the Little Miami School district on Tuesday over the board of education’s decision to remove the flag in February, claiming it was based on a “history of hostility” toward LGBTQ messaging by the school board and School Board President David Wallace.

“Comments from Board Members made clear that the decision was not based on the poster’s own words, but rather an effort to silence the pro-LGBTQ message associated with the rainbow images,” the legal complaint states. The statement was included.

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The teacher also accused Wallace of targeting LGBTQ messages and materials after she campaigned to have some books withdrawn from Scholastic Book Fairs until they could be reviewed for “inappropriate material” after a parent complained about a comic book series featuring a gay child.

Wallace was also accused of leading the effort to remove the poster by taking it to the school board after it was rejected by district leaders.

Allegedly, the poster hung in the classroom without any problems for approximately 4 years. The poster in question also featured images of a heart-shaped American flag, as well as several Pride flags.

The teacher repeatedly argued that the purpose of the poster was to spread an inclusive message, not to promote sexual or gender ideology, and feared that changing it could send the opposite message.

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The anonymous Little Miami teacher claims the school board president has a history of “hostility” toward pro-LGBT messages. (John Senter/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

“My concern is that trying to find a different, ‘neutral’ image could inadvertently lead to the erasure of LGBTQ+ representation. My preference would be to discuss any additional representation that could be added to the existing flag rather than removing any of the groups represented,” the plaintiff wrote in February.

The teacher requests declaratory judgment, holding that the Little Miami School Board violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments by removing the poster and obtained an injunction preventing them from removing the poster in the future.

In a comment to Fox News Digital, the Little Miami School District said it was aware of the lawsuit and was “committed to supporting all students and staff and maintaining a respectful learning environment while following state and federal law and the policies adopted by the Board.”

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The teacher’s attorney argued that removing the flag and poster violated the First Amendment. (Getty Images)

Joshua Engel, an attorney representing the teacher, issued a statement condemning the school administration for “turning a simple message of kindness into a fight over free speech.”

“For four years, a teacher hung a flag in her classroom saying every student deserves to be treated with respect, and no one had a problem with it until some school board members decided to do it. Now they are trying to silence a message of civility while pursuing other personal demonstrations. The Constitution demands more; school board members cannot silence speech just because they disagree with the message,” Engel said.

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Little Miami High School was subject to criticism after suspending two football players for carrying “thin blue line” and “thin red line” flags on the field on September 11, 2020. The players had waved the flags in defiance of the school, which had previously refused their request to carry the flags on the field.