Parents are furious that right-wing provocateurs have circulated misleading videos of their children recorded during a Virginia school assembly without permission to stoke anti-LGBTQ hysteria.
Glenn Beck, the Daily Signal and other conservative outlets posted the video online showing students at Charlottesville’s Johnson Elementary School attending a "summer celebration" that they falsely claim was a "hyper-sexualized assembly” in which children were "forced to partake" and engaged in “grooming” for abuse, reported The Daily Progress.
“It was upsetting to know that the video was taken,” said mother Meredith Powell, whose child attends the school. “It just seems like common sense that you don't take videos of other people's children. You just never know what the situations are with different families and what families need protection from exposure like that.”
Students take part in monthly assemblies at the school, and the last such morning meeting celebrated the end of the school year in June, which is Pride Month, and also featured children reading from "ABC Pride," which administrators described “an alphabet book about LGBTQ acceptance, which included words like ‘belonging,’ ‘gender,’ and ‘kindness.’”
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“The goal of these morning meetings is to build a stronger and more inclusive learning environment, where all students feel safe, welcomed, and respected,” the school district said in a statement. “Our school division fully supports the Johnson Elementary School leadership in providing time for our students to connect and learn from each other.”
The school district said the video, which shows the children's faces, violated school policy and possibly the law.
“News and information concerning school events, personnel, students, and programs is released [to the media] only with the approval of the principal or superintendent and in accordance with state and federal laws regarding confidentiality,” said district spokeswoman Beth Cheuk. “Whoever sent this video to the media did so without permission from the superintendent or principal, which is a violation to our policy."
