School officials stifle students' resistance to LGBTQ flag

A law firm is investigating a Minnesota school for displaying a rainbow flag and, according to one attorney, squelching opposition to the flag.

The flag fallout happened at Marshall Middle School in Marshall, Minnesota. Thomas More Society attorney Erick Kaardal represents a group of Marshall residents who say the flag was displayed by the principal in the cafeteria without any explanation or school board policy.

"When students and parents started criticizing the unilateral placement of that flag there without a policy or process, they were described as bullies," Kaardal tells OneNewsNow. "There was a petition led by students to take down the flag – and [the petition] was confiscated by the principal and then there was discipline."

The U.S. flag and flags from many countries are displayed in the cafeteria, but Kaardal points out the rainbow flag is not a national flag but rather a flag of protest.

"The LGBTQ movement has won several battles democratically in the United States, including the U.S. Supreme Court decision Obergefell regarding so-called marriage equality, so this is a political flag that the LGBTQ movement uses," the attorney continues.

"It appears that there were outside groups working with the principal and the principal's daughter, who is on the faculty," he continues, "and they all seemed to be working together to get not only the rainbow flag posted but also in suppressing criticism."

Kaardal contends the incident will lead to a federal lawsuit with two types of claims, one being that the display of flags other than the national flag needs to be viewpoint neutral. "They're only putting up one flag, the rainbow flag, to the exclusion of others," the attorney explains.

And the second claim? "… You can't suppress student petitions regarding school district policy, because the students can certainly, in between classes and so forth, circulate a petition as they did here," Kaardal emphasizes.

Currently, Thomas More Society is asking for emails between the principal and teachers and outside groups that involve the flag and how it got to be in the cafeteria. "We'll find out how this all came about and it'll shed some light on what actually happened," says Kaardal. "The school board hasn't been helpful at all."

OneNewsNow emailed all of Thomas More Society's claims to Marshall Middle School's principal, assistant principal, and superintendent. OneNewsNow did not receive a response.