(Image from Goggle Maps)
A Seminole County high school is being accused of censorship for covering up LGBTQ images from a student protest in its yearbook.
The Lyman High School yearbook photos in question depict students holding rainbow Pride flags and one student holding a sign that reads “Love is Love” during the “Say Gay” student walkout in March. The walkout was a protest against HB 1557, the “Parental Rights in Education,” better known as the “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” bill, which prohibits discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity in certain grade levels. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law March 28.
Lyman High School principal Michael Hunter said, in a message to students, that the yearbooks would be delayed because the images were being covered up before they could distribute them. The yearbooks were supposed to be given to students May 9.
“The distribution is being delayed in order to assure the yearbook meets all aspects of Seminole County School Board policies, particularly as it pertains to non-school sponsored events contained in school publications,” Hunter said. “Unfortunately, the pictures and descriptions that depicted this event did not meet school board policy and were not caught earlier in the review process. Rather than reprinting the yearbook at substantial cost and delay, we have elected to cover the material that is out of compliance with board policy so that yearbooks can be distributed as soon as possible.
“Our yearbook staff has done a wonderful job of capturing many aspects of our students’ experience,” Hunter continued. “Overall, the yearbook celebrates Lyman’s history, diversity and inclusivity. I look forward to everyone getting to see the yearbook and having the opportunity to enjoy it themselves.”
Students have challenged the school’s explanation, saying that photos from the 2018 “March For Our Lives” demonstration, done shortly after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting to call for better gun control legislation, were allowed to be included in that year’s yearbook without being covered up.
State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, Florida’s first openly gay Latinx person elected to the Legislature, took to social media to show support for the students.
“This censorship is a direct result of the same law these students were protesting. #WeWillNotBeErased in this so-called ‘free state,’” Guillermo Smith wrote.
Students have launched a Change.org petition and an online campaign using the hashtag #STOPtheSTICKERS calling for the yearbooks to be released unaltered. The petition calls attention to two other Seminole County high schools — Hagerty High School and Oviedo High School — whose yearbooks have photos of their school walkouts and are not censored. The petition points out the only difference is Lyman’s photos have Pride flags in them.
