JANUARY, 2021 |
ISSUE 319 | Qsaltlake.com
to push for the removal of the flags until he found that they were removed. Commenters said that the flags were temporarily removed, but were put back up after the principal and the school board backed them being displayed. Abigail Riley, daughter of principal OBrien, posted a photo of the flags and an explanation of her mother’s motivations. “My mom, who is the principal at Rose Park Elementary, recently put up a Black Lives Matter flag and updated her pride flag to recognize trans and bipoc inclusivity,” she wrote on her Instagram wall. “Her words: ‘It’s all about the tiny humans that walk through the door. They need to feel included and loved.’” “This decision has received pushback from people who I’d rather not give voice to,”
Riley continued. “Her voicemail and email are subject to constant notifications; some in complete support and some fervently against these flags.” Riley said that the Salt Lake School District supports the display of the flags and that other educators and former students are excited that the flags are represented at the school. “I could go on for a while about my mother. She is truly passionate about anti-racist work and her students and is constantly working to make the school a safe space for all,” Riley said. “But she wishes to be decentered from this conversation, as she is only a vessel and not the originator of these ideas.” She asked people to consider what the “simple gesture of a flag where someone sees themselves represented might do to foster a feeling of safety and inclusivity.” Q
‘Shame’ and ‘Disgusting’ chants target Utah’s ‘Lady MAGA’ at DC rally Salt Lake’s own Ryan Woods, whose Trump-supporting drag personae known as ‘Lady MAGA’, was the target of “shame” and “disgusting” chants while speaking at the supposed Million Maga March in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 13. Video on social media shows MAGA supporters and many in the Fuentes’ “groyper” movement, chanting “Shame! Shame! Shame!” and a man with a megaphone yelling “That’s disgusting” during the performer’s speech. “I am a proud patriot, constitutionalist, and a free American standing up for my country,” Lady MAGA tweeted in response to the coverage. “These
people (especially ‘Tiny Tim [Nick Fuentes]) are just sad.’” Woods claims that the response to his Lady MAGA character has been very positive overall at Trump rallies. Other social media posts point out that Lady MAGA called a Rose Park Elementary School principal to complain she displays the rainbow and Black Lives Matter flags. “You need to make phone calls when you see this kind of ridiculousness,” Woods said on a Twitter video. He introduced himself as a “concerned citizen of Salt Lake City.” “I’m gay, but I don’t think that a rainbow flag is an appropriate flag to fly outside of an American elementary school” Woods said before calling the flag “leftist, political radicalism.” Q
NEWS | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | 9
