The Trans Flag Flies Over the Teachers’ Union 

Teachers’ unions continue to embrace woke gender ideology and force it on young children. 

When a transgender flag flies over a building, make no mistake: That building has been conquered by left-wing extremists. 

Today, a rainbow flag flies over the building of the nation’s largest teacher union, the National Education Association, in Washington, D.C. The union is publicly declaring its dedication to gender ideology over and above the importance of improving student achievement.  

It is not the only teachers’ union embracing Pride Month. On June 1, the Florida Education Association changed their X profile picture to a trans flag and posted that they were celebrating Pride Month. All this while enrollment in Florida public schools continues to drop as more students flee to Florida’s many private and charter schools, where they are not, as a general rule, bombarded with gender ideology.  

The American Federation of Teachers joined in observing Pride Month, posting on the social media platform Bluesky. AFT also posted articles on its website about work advocating for gender ideology. Last June, the organization’s “LGBTQIA+ Task Force” advocated on Capitol Hill for “LGBTQIA+ rights, protections for trans healthcare and immigrant justice.” 

Note that these issues have nothing to do with improving the education of American students.  

In the classroom, the endorsement of LGBT issues by educators is a distraction. In a Senate hearing on June 3, Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., asked Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for LGTBQ Rights and advocate for sex-rejecting procedures, about teachers talking with children about sexuality.  

Banks asked Minter if it was appropriate for teachers to talk to 12-year-old children about sexuality. Minter replied, “No.” Yet, when asked by Sen. Banks about pride flags, Minter refused to condemn the placement of pride flags in kindergarten classrooms.  

One cannot claim to condemn exposing young kids to radical gender ideology while hanging its banner in their classrooms. 

Many teachers understand this reality. Studies have shown that teachers, especially elementary school teachers, understand that gender identity should not have a place in schools. Nevertheless, their unions continue to display a dedication to this radical ideology.  

Doing so is a clear indication of unions’ real priorities. Teachers’ unions are advancing a political agenda in classrooms across America. In each classroom where a pride flag is put up—this month or any other—parents should recognize it for what it is: a sign of dedication to political ideology over educational quality. It is a symbol of a radical ideology that has no place in a room full of children.  

Parents have taken note. The number of states and families using education choice programs continues to rise. It is time for teachers’ unions to finally listen. Unless they focus on excellent schools providing quality education, parents with options will look elsewhere for their children.  

It is time to lower the pride flags waving above teachers’ unions and remove the radical ideologies they push in classrooms. Parents want schools that provide education, not indoctrination.