I have spent nearly a decade in a classroom as a history teacher. One of the many important lessons my students learn as they analyze and interpret the history of our nation is that efforts to silence marginalized voices often age poorly.
Our nation’s history has many examples of exclusion – from opposition to school integration, to bans on civil rights and anti-war symbols, to the erasure of Black and Indigenous histories in curriculum and textbooks. Utah’s HB77, which would ban the display of pride flags in government buildings and severely limit their display in public school classrooms, is another attempt to decide who belongs in public spaces.
Throughout history, our heroes of today who fought to expand rights and representation were often deemed controversial or too political. Rosa Parks was reduced in popular narratives to a “quiet seamstress,” despite her vital role as an NAACP secretary and political organizer, educated at the Highlander Folk School. Ida B. Wells, now celebrated as a powerful journalist and advocate against racial violence, was dismissed from her teaching job in 1891 by the Memphis School Board after writing an article criticizing segregated school conditions.
In 1965, students in Issaquena County, Mississippi, were disciplined for wearing “freedom” buttons made by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
In 1969, Mary Beth Tinker, John Tinker and Chris Eckhart wore black armbands to school in protest of the Vietnam War and were suspended. In his majority opinion in Tinker v. DesMoines Independent Community School District, Justice Abe Fortas wrote, “First Amendment rights, applied in light of the special characteristics of the school environment, are available to teachers and students. It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”
When pride flags are removed on grounds of neutrality, it does not change the existence of LGBTQ+ students. Controversy is not created by a flag, but by those who insist that inclusion is a problem.
One of the flags in my classroom is for Juneteenth, a federal holiday marking the end of slavery in the United States, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued. As an early U.S. History teacher, I find examining the successes and failures of the Reconstruction Era — the period of rebuilding after the Civil War — is essential to understanding racial equality in America and implications on current events
It saddens me that the two examples identified as permissible displays of flags in a history curriculum were the Nazi and Confederate flag — both symbols of oppression, violence, genocide and hate. The Confederate flag was used as a symbol of opposition to federal intervention and legislation during the Civil Rights Movement. I can’t say that I’ve ever thought of displaying either in class.
HB77 would technically allow the temporary display of pride flags if it’s part of a curriculum. However, this limited exception does not change the fact that the bill effectively erases a symbol of visibility of LGBTQ+ students and educators in schools.
I see this proposed ban as a two-fold issue. First, the history of the LGBTQ+ community is woven into our nation’s story. In 2021, only 13% of LGBTQ+ students were exposed to positive representations of LGBTQ+ people, history or events.
A part of the anti-communist hysteria in the 1950s that I did not learn about in high school is the Lavender Scare. Thousands of LGBTQ+ federal workers were terminated or forced into resignation because of their sexuality. I did not learn about a movement that occurred around the same time the civil rights movement of the 1960s — the LGBTQ+ rights movement — which historians largely agree began in 1969 with the Stonewall Uprising. I did not learn about the work of ACT UP during the AIDS epidemic that claimed tens of thousands of lives.
The censorship of LGBTQ+ history creates division and fear.
Second, I deeply care about all of my students. Recent surveys of LGBTQ+ students in Utah demonstrate the urgent need for access to safe, affirming spaces. The GLSEN 2021 National School Climate Survey revealed alarming levels of derogatory language and homophobic slurs in Utah’s schools.
According to the Trevor Project’s 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health, 50% of LGBTQ+ youth in Utah seriously considered suicide in the past year, and 43% of LGBTQ+ youth citing recent policies impacting their well-being. When asked what makes a space affirming for LGBTQ+ young people in Utah, youth responded “feeling supported,” “pride flags,” “how people talk about LGBTQ rights” and “anti-discrimination policies.”
Over the past 10 years, I have witnessed LGBTQ+ students endure bullying, mental health challenges and even suicidal ideation. I have collaborated with families, counseling staff, teachers and community youth alliances to support my students. On my very first day teaching in Utah, a student stayed after the dismissal bell to talk to me. He quietly told me how much it meant to him to see a pride flag in my classroom — not only to see himself represented, but to know he was safe.
LGBTQ+ students never asked to be politicized or turned into a controversy. All students deserve to see themselves reflected in the classroom and feel included at school. History teaches us that when we erase our past, we repeat its mistakes. I urge our lawmakers, educators and communities to reject HB77 and any effort that seeks to silence marginalized voices. Representation matters — in our history lessons and in the lives of our students — including the rainbow flag on my classroom wall.
(Sayre Posey) Sayre Posey is an 8th Grade U.S. History Teacher at Northwest Middle School in Salt Lake City. She is also Utah's 2025 Teacher of the Year.
Sayre Posey is an eighth grade U.S. history teacher at Northwest Middle School in Salt Lake City. She is also Utah’s 2025 Teacher of the Year.
The Salt Lake Tribune is committed to creating a space where Utahns can share ideas, perspectives and solutions that move our state forward. We rely on your insight to do this. Find out how to share your opinion here, and email us at voices@sltrib.com.
