By Riley C.
A high schooler in Grant, Michigan, was chosen to paint a mural to make the students feel more included. Evelyn Gonzalez painted the mural based on her design that won a contest. Some parents were outraged because the mural had pride imagery and witchcraft. The parents say these are “hidden messages.” Some of the pride imagery is children wearing clothing with pride colors on them such as blue, pink, and white (the colors of the transgender flag) and blue, purple, and pink (the colors of the bisexual flag), and rainbow.
“I put my artwork up there to make people feel welcome,” Evelyn said in response to the adults’ accusations that her picture was discriminating against Christian beliefs and that this IS “hate material.” “That’s not what I’m a part of. That’s not what I’m trying to put out there.” The artwork some people had a problem with was a video game character and a Latino symbol of protection.
After the protesting, school officials reconsidered the artwork. They decided that some parts that weren’t included in the original design would be removed, but the kids in LGBTQ clothing would stay.
