Calif. teacher who told students to pledge allegiance to gay pride flag instead of U.S. removed – PennLive
A teacher in California garnered national attention after she recorded herself instructing her students to pledge allegiance to the LGTBQIA flag instead of the United States’.
The teacher has now been removed for her actions, and the district has confirmed that the matter is currently under investigation.
Newsweek reports how Kristen Pitzen—who teaches at the Newport-Mesa Unified School district in Orange County—had initially removed the American flag from her classroom during the coronavirus pandemic due to the fact it made her “feel uncomfortable.”
Pitzen then explains in the now-viral Twitter video that one of her students—who all have the choice to stand for the pledge or not—asked her what they would be swearing allegiance to if not the American flag.
“I always tell my class, stand if you feel like it, don’t stand if you don’t feel like it, say the words if you want, you don’t have to say the words,” says Pitzen. “So my class decided to stand, but not say the words. Totally fine.
“But my kid today goes, ‘Hey, um, it’s kinda weird that we just stand and then you know, we say it to nothing. And I’m like, ‘Oh well, you know, I gotta find it, like, I’m working on it, I got you.’”
That’s where the gay pride flag came in. Now, because of Pitzen’s widely viewed post that she shared on social media, Yahoo! News states she has been taken out of the classroom.
“We are aware that one of our teachers posted a video on their personal social media that caused alarm and concern related to saluting the American flag,” writes district spokesperson, Annette Franco, to Newsweek.
“Showing respect for our nation’s flag is an important value that we instill in our students and an expectation of our employees. The teacher is no longer in the classroom. We follow due process, and our investigation continues.”