Note to readers • HB77 was amended hours after this story was published. Read about the amended version here.
An ongoing fight in Utah to ban pride flags in schools entered new territory Thursday after Rep. Trevor Lee proposed new legislation to ban the flags not just in public schools, but in any government building or on any government property.
The bill, HB77, originally applied only to schools. But an update to the bill released ahead of Thursday’s House Education Committee hearing expands the ban to all government buildings or property. The updated bill was favorably recommended by the committee, with the committee’s two Democrats — Reps. Sahara Hayes and Carol Moss — casting the only “nays.” It will now be heard on the full House floor.
Approved flags for display in government buildings and schools would include the Utah state and U.S. flags, military flags, flags for other countries, flags for Native American tribes and official flags for colleges and universities. The bill also allows for the flying of a “historic version of a flag ... that is temporarily displayed for educational purposes,” which Lee, R-Layton, said would include the Confederate and Nazi flags.
“We are starting to see increasingly more hostile-type interactions between different political factions that we have within our society, and that is no different than what we’re starting to see a lot within our education system,” Lee said while presenting the bill to the committee Thursday. “Our schools should be a place for children to learn, to not feel like they are being pushed or seen as agendas in one way other another as it pertains to political beliefs.”
When he first introduced the bill, Lee said on the social media platform X that his goal was to ban pride flags. But Nazi and Confederate flags, he told the committee Thursday, would be included in the approved flags. “There are instances where in classrooms, you have curriculum that is needed to use flags such as World War II, Civil War,” he said. “You may have a Nazi flag. You may have a Confederate flag, and so you are allowed to display those flags… as part of the curriculum, and that is okay.”
In a phone call Thursday night, Lee disputed that he ever said a Nazi flag could be displayed, and argued that would not be allowed under his bill.
”There is a difference between displaying flags in curriculum when you’re teaching on them,” he said. “You don’t censor history here. That’s not what we’re doing.”
[READ: Proposed ban on pride flag from Utah schools revived by GOP lawmaker]
The bill drew significant attention during the committee hearing, with dozens of people appearing both in person and online to speak both in favor of and against the legislation, including parents who said their kids had been offended by pride flags in their schools, the parents of queer children, and students.
“This ban is unconstitutional and only serves as a means of control over the people,” Millie Dworkin, a senior at Salt Lake Center for Science Education, said during public testimony. “You all argue semantics, but you all know this is wrong and immoral. Queer people commit suicide at a higher rate than everybody else. … This is not because they are inherently prone to commit suicide due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. It is because of how they are treated. If you pass this, you will have queer blood on your hands.”
Aaron Bullen, a Lehi resident, testified in favor of the legislation, and said his 10-year-old son had been offended after a pride flag was hung in his school computer lab. “We all know that if a teacher hung up a flag with a giant picture of Jesus on it, it would be removed immediately,” he said. “Yet the Pride flag sends a clear message about marriage. It also sends a message about gender, that a boy can become a girl and a girl can become a boy. This message conflicts with my family’s religious beliefs.”
The push to ban pride flags comes after a dramatic attempt during the legislative session last year, when Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, attempted to push through a bill that would have listed approved flags in the final hours of the session. The bill failed a Senate vote 9-20.
Asked about the new bill in a Senate media availability ahead of the committee hearing Thursday, several members groaned and laughed. “Flag bill again?” Senate President Stuart Adams said. “It may have legs over here. I don’t know.”
“My caucus, we will remain opposed to that sort of limitation of speech and expression,” Sen. Jen Plumb, D-Salt Lake, told reporters.
Note to readers • This story has been updated to include a Thursday night interview with Rep. Trevor Lee.
