Linn-Mar High School’s annual homecoming parade in Marion on Wednesday was supposed to be a joyous occasion for students in the parade and spectators along the route. There was even an extra reason to celebrate this year, with the restoration of the school’s Armstrong bell that’s been rung every time the Linn-Mar Lions score a touchdown in a home game for the last five decades. But ugly acts of homophobia on Wednesday marred the occasion.
Ava, a 15-year-old student and member of Spectrum — an LGBTQ+ peer-support group for students — was looking forward to marching in the parade behind the Spectrum banner with her friends.
“Fifteen brave kids did their makeup, they built each other up, and they bravely walked together,” Jennifer Pitkin, Ava’s mother, wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday night.
Expecting a fun afternoon, “Ava brought 500 (!!) bouncy balls to pass out.”
The Spectrum marchers experienced homophobic slurs and taunts, including “Get your queer ass out of here” and “My pronouns are USA,” Pitkin reported.
Another parent of a Spectrum student described the scene in her own public Facebook post, saying “a small, but vocal group” was “harassing & yelling slurs at the kids in the Spectrum float.”
According to Pitkin, one spectator took it a step further.
“Not only did these CHILDREN hear slurs as they walked, one person threw an OPEN box cutter (see photo) that nearly hit Ava,” she said.
“My 15 year old just experienced what, frankly, is a hate crime. She just wanted to support her friends and family in the community. She is destroyed. These kids give, and give, and give, and this is what they get?”
Pitkin said the incident would be reported to the police.
“This incident is currently under investigation and anyone with information about the identities of those involved is asked to contact the Marion Iowa Police Department,” the City of Marion said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.
“The actions of a few during yesterday’s Homecoming parade do not speak for our community,” the city statement said. “… Acts of discrimination will not be tolerated and, together, we must work to create a place where people of all cultures and identities can thrive.”
The Linn-Mar Community School District also issued a statement on Thursday, saying it was “saddened to learn that an otherwise spectacular Homecoming parade last evening was disrupted by a few individuals who elected to harass, ridicule, and throw objects at some of our students in the Linn-Mar Spectrum parade entry. This behavior is unacceptable and does not reflect the values of our district.”
The school district said staff members reached out on Thursday “to reassure the students in our Spectrum organization of our continued support, and are partnering with law enforcement on its investigation into these events. We are dedicated to ensuring that all students feel safe, respected, and valued, and will not condone actions that threaten them.”
The Linn-Mar School District has been a target in recent years for conservative groups and Republican politicians, from Gov. Kim Reynolds and Rep. Ashley Hinson to former Vice President Mike Pence, because of a policy statement the school board adopted in April 2022 aimed at ensuring a supportive atmosphere for LGBTQ students.
The five-page-long policy stated that schools should make a case-by-case determination about appropriate arrangements for transgender students regarding names/pronouns, restroom and locker facilities, overnight accommodations on school trips, and participation in activities. It stressed the importance of communicating with both students and parents/guardians, and that arrangements should be based on the student’s or family’s wishes, be minimally burdensome, and be appropriate under the circumstances.
Any student in seventh grade or a higher grade would be allowed to assert the priority of their own support plan over their parent/guardian.
Board President Brittania Morey explained at the time “these policies do not change procedure, they simply put into policy for easy reference how these laws are followed within the district.” Morey said board members felt it was necessary to clarify the district’s approach because of the apparent conflict between federal civil rights law and the ban on transgender girls participating in girls’ school sports that Gov. Reynolds signed into law a month earlier.
Reynolds and Ashley Hinson, the Republican who represents Linn County in Congress, were among the most prominent voices denouncing Linn-Mar’s attempt to support LGBTQ students, as were groups like Moms for Liberty. Those stoking rightwing ire over the policy also included national Republicans visiting Iowa with an eye on caucus season.
During his brief and unsuccessful attempt to launch a presidential campaign in 2023, Mike Pence denounced Linn-Mar, saying, “we will not stand idly by as the Radical Left attempts to indoctrinate our children behind parents’ backs.”
A group calling itself Parents Defending Education sued the school district over its policy. The district settled the lawsuit earlier this year, with its insurance company paying the group $20,000. By that time, the policy issues were moot, because Reynolds has signed into law bills making the sort of accommodations in the policy illegal.
In recent years, Republicans in the Iowa Legislature have passed several bills imposing new restrictions on LGBTQ Iowans and the state’s schools.
“The hostile environment surrounding LGBTQ youth, fostered in-part by lawmakers at the Iowa State Capitol, has enabled these vile acts,” Iowa Safe Schools Executive Director Becky Tayler said in a written statement to the Gazette.“It is reprehensible that this bullying behavior continues to trickle down into our communities. Iowa Safe Schools stands with Spectrum and LGBTQ students at Linn-Mar.”
On Thursday morning, a still distraught Jennifer Pitkin posted a follow-up on Facebook to let people know the school district had been in touch with her, and that the district and the Marion police were both investigating what happened at the parade.
“People, including children, yelled slurs. Small children walked up to the Spectrum kids and said slurs to their faces,” she wrote. “Someone threw an open, extended box cutter … at children because they’re walking in an LGBTQ+ group. This is in broad daylight, amongst hundreds of people. This WILL escalate if profound steps aren’t taken to criminalize this behavior.”
Pitkin asked people to let Ava and the other Spectrum kids “know their community is bigger” by sharing #istandwithspectrum on social media. She also set up an I Stand with Spectrum GoFundMe page to help people make contributions to support the group.
On Friday morning, Pitkins posted that donations to the fundraiser had already surpassed the initial goal.
“LOVE WON,” she wrote.
The I Stand with Spectrum GoFundMe page is still live, now with a new stretch goal.
