Parents’ rights protestors tells LGBTQ+ advocates to go hang themselves

New videos have surfaced of so-called “parents’ rights” protestors in California encouraging LGBTQ+ people to kill themselves. One of the comments came from a member of a group called Leave Our Kids Alone (LOKA). The group has appeared in Fox News interviews as well as school board meetings, Daily Kos reported.

The videos were taken from a June 2 protest in front of Saticoy Elementary School in North Hollywood, California. Dueling groups protested for and against an optional Pride assembly for students that included a reading of a children’s book featuring same-sex families.

Related:

Lesbian school board president epically blasts anti-LGBTQ+ activists at meeting

“How dare you make them afraid because you are!”

“You should have hanged yourself,” one man carrying a LOKA shirt screams at a counter-protester wearing a progress Pride flag. “You should have died in the f**king closet!” the man shouts while other LOKA members pull him away from the counter-protester.

Stay connected to your community

Connect with the issues and events that impact your community at home and beyond by subscribing to our newsletter.

Daily

Weekly

Good News

In a second video, another man says, “Hey, I’ve got a big hook for you,” while making a circle with his forefinger and thumb. Moving his hand around his neck, he adds, “I need you to hang yourself with it.”

In the background, pro-LGBTQ+ demonstrators repeatedly chant, “Queer youth matters!” while the LOKA protesters carry U.S. flags and scowl.

One protester on LOKA’s side shouted on a megaphone, “You’re ruining the innocence of small children… It’s pure demon.”

Daily Kos said that LOKA brought a truck with a large LOKA sign on it, and its members instigated fistfights. It also said that LOKA members are working closely with Republican politicians and Chino Hills Unified School District president Sonja Shaw to target LGBTQ+ youth.

Shaw and her district are currently undergoing a civil rights investigation by the California Attorney General for removing the district superintendent and passing an “illegal policy” requiring teachers to out LGBTQ+ students to their parents.

“Students should never fear going to school for simply being who they are,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta (D). “Chino Valley Unified’s forced outing policy threatens the safety and well-being of LGBTQ+ students vulnerable to harassment and potential abuse from peers and family members unaccepting of their gender identity.”

In the week leading up to the protest at Saticoy, someone burned a small Pride flag outside of the school that belonged to a transgender teacher. Local police investigated the arson as a possible hate crime.

The teacher, who has worked as an educator for over 30 years, was targeted by threats and was forced to work at a different location as a result.

“The big message is the pedophilia and the indoctrination — I’m just always insulted to the max over that,” the teacher told LAist.com. “I was gonna go back, but then I got more hate and violent mail, so my kids made me promise [to re-locate elsewhere]. They get real scared that something’s gonna happen.”

The teacher said she was unsure if she’d return to teach at the school for the 2023-2024 school year.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. The Trans Lifeline (1-877-565-8860) is staffed by trans people and will not contact law enforcement. The Trevor Project provides a safe, judgement-free place to talk for youth via chat, text (678-678), or phone (1-866-488-7386). Help is available at all three resources in English and Spanish.