ABOVE: Screenshot via Twitter. Watermark cautions this article contains anti-LGBTQ language.
ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. | A group of students at Bartram Trail High School in suburban Jacksonville hurled anti-LGBTQ slurs at the GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance or Genders & Sexualities Alliance) club and other students on campus Sept. 17
The abuse was caught on multiple mobile phones and posted to SnapChat, Tik Tok and Instagram by other students and quickly spread. In one video, a male is seen holding up a handmade Confederate battle flag on a small stick while dropping the word ‘fag’ and other slurs including statements disparaging the Black Lives Matter movement.
In another video while one student is stomping what appears to be a small Pride flag on the ground, in the background another can be heard screaming, “There’s only two genders, faggot.”
Outraged parents are demanding action by school officials. Parents and others also sent the videos to CBS affiliate WJAX-TV in Jacksonville which originally reported on the incident.
One parent who did not wish to be identified told WJAX action news JAX that she is the mother of one of the GSA students targeted. She confirmed the incident took place Sept. 17, and added that a Pride flag was ripped out of her daughter’s hand.
“She’s approached by one of the boys, who started yelling at her saying, ‘You’re gay. You have no rights,’ and kind of spitting at her. She walked past it and got on her bus,” the mother said.
According to WJAX the mother labeled the incident “sad” and wants the St. John’s County School District to take immediate action.
“I think if you show that level of hate or attacked at people just for people being who they are, there’s no tolerance for that,” she said.
She also told the station she had forwarded the videos to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, which confirmed that it had sent to its youth resource division.
A spokesperson for the St. John’s County School District told WJAX that “School officials are actively addressing the incident and students involved will receive consequences that align with our student code of conduct.” That policy listed on the SJCSD web site clearly notes that students are to respect the right of others to express their views, however does not allow forms of bullying and harassment.
A troubling series of videos posted to social media this week appears to show a group of students hurling hate speech at other students at a St. Johns County high school. https://t.co/cQkra2AZVo
— News4JAX (@wjxt4) September 20, 2021
https://twitter.com/AceTheGenera/status/1439284949941694470
