Connecticut parents furious elementary school showed Pride video to students without consent

Connecticut parents are speaking out after a school showed a pro-LGBT video to their elementary children without parental knowledge or consent.

The video, entitled “Pride to Me,” was part of the “Principal’s Message” to Wells Road Intermediate School students on June 1.

In the video, five elementary-aged students explain what Pride Month means to them, including lines such as:

• “Nobody can tell you what to do. I have dolls, I love my dolls. Boys can play with dolls, too.” – Jasper, who uses they/them pronouns. 
• “Pride means a person could be whoever they want to be in their heart. The fact that I can say that I like to be called a boy makes me feel happy.” 
• “All my life I never really felt like a boy, and I don’t really feel like a girl, so I’d rather be both.” – Simon, who uses he/they pronouns. 

Wells Road parents voiced their frustration, both with the video’s message and with the school’s lack of transparency. 

“They needed to get parents’ permissions to show their children that,” one mother said after a reporter from WFSB 3 showed her the video in the school pickup line last week. 

“We should’ve been told so we can have a conversation at home and not be thrown off guard this way,” the mother added. 

“There was nothing warning us,” said Stephen Davis, who was picking up his 8-year-old granddaughter in the same line, adding that kids shouldn’t have to “worry about being an adult when they’re 8-years-old.” 

The superintendent’s office said it is handling all complaints internally and that the video was designed for 2 to 12-year-old students. 

“It certainly was not intended to alienate or disturb any child. In context, we were trying to remind students that it’s OK to be who you are and still be treated with respect dignity, and kindness,” Principal Pauline Greer said in a letter to parents. 

Frustrated parents flooded the Granby School District Board of Education meeting, which includes Wells Road, last week.  

District Superintendent Jordan Grossman vowed to improve the district’s communication. However, board members walked out of the meeting at one point when a frustrated parent went over their allotted time, which led to further chaos.  

“The same way we keep religion, politics, everything out of school, keep sexuality out of school — leave it to the parents,” one Wells Road Father said during the meeting. 

Kyle Reyes, a father of four, pulled his kids out of the district after the video came to light. He told Fox News Thursday that this incident was the “straw that broke the camel’s back.” 

“There have been growing issues with not just our school district, but frankly, across the country where our kids are being read books about transgender crayons and racist police officers, and now the indoctrination has taken the place of education,” Reyes said. 

“This video sends the kids the message of I’m in charge. I call the shots. I do whatever I want, and you as the parent have to listen to me,” Reyes added. “That’s not the message that we should be sending to our kids.” 

Principal Greer’s response to Granby parents was unsatisfactory, according to Reyes, who said many parents are furious the letter never offered an apology. 

“I missed the part where she said, ‘I’m sorry, we should have informed parents first,'” Reyes said.