A poster series featuring LGBTQ celebrities is being removed from Gentry Middle School this week. This series is a part of a poster celebration of LGBT History Month.
The posters are of celebrities — including singer Miley Cyrus, actress Laverne Cox, YouTuber/comedian Shane Dawson and former MU football player Michael Sam — who identify at different points on spectrums of genders and sexualities. The posters also have descriptions of those terms, such as gay, genderqueer, transgender, nonbinary, intersex, asexual, polysexual, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual and straight ally.
The posters are being replaced with ones about Jaguar PAWS, the school’s gay-straight alliance organization, Columbia Public Schools spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark said. Posters about the history of the multicolored pride flag will remain on display.
Every month, the teacher-run diversity committee, which organized this month’s poster display with leadership members of Jaguar PAWS, chooses a topic of focus. Last month was Hispanic heritage, and next month is diabetes awareness, Baumstark said.
Over the past few days, Gentry parents have questioned the poster display, according to a letter that Principal Fairouz Bishara sent to parents Monday afternoon. The letter stated the information on the posters is not a part of school curriculum.
“It is not our intention, by any means, to advocate for any type of sexual orientation nor to encourage sexual activity, but to promote compassion and empathy for others,” Bishara wrote in the letter.
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