The PRIDE Flag, which has been hanging at Sonoma High since 2019, has been removed. It is unknown at this time how the decision was made or by whom. In response to learning about this, Lisa Storment of WakeUp Sonoma released the following statement:
“It was brought to our attention today, by district employees, students and teachers at Sonoma Valley High School, that a decision was made to have the
PRIDE flag removed from High School grounds today. The PRIDE flag, which has graced the high school campus in a student led effort since 2019, is in fact, no longer flying. This move was made without community input and apparently without a board discussion or vote. We cannot find this being on the agenda or any recent school board meeting. We don’t know who, or why this decision was made. We do know the community was not notified. So, we ask, WHO would allow this?
This comes at a very difficult time in our history, when the LGBTQIA+ population and especially students, are feeling targeted and afraid of their rights being rolled back. We view this very public move as a direct assault on the LGBTQIA+ community of Sonoma Valley, at a time when we need to be reinforcing the rights, value and presence of LGBTQIA+ community members and fostering diversity and inclusion. This move feeds into the agenda of a fascist regime, and is alarming and upsetting to our community.
THIS CANNOT STAND! The Wake UP Sonoma Board is calling for action!
We call for this to be reversed immediately and the flag return to its place in front of the high school. We call for transparency from the School Board, the Superintendent, and the Principal about how this happened.”
Put the flag back!