SUNBURY, OH (MARION COUNTY NOW)—The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio has issued a stern letter to Doug Crowl, president of the Big Walnut Local Schools Board, criticizing a recently passed resolution that bans pride flags from classrooms. The ACLU calls the policy “unconstitutional” and a “brazen attack on students’ First Amendment rights,” asserting that the board’s discriminatory motives are the inherent condemnation of the policy.
Ryan Wynia, co-founder of Action for Tomorrow and parent of three Big Walnut students, expressed frustration over the policy. “The ACLU’s letter is unequivocal about the policy—it’s unconstitutional,” said Wynia. He hopes the ACLU’s detailed articulation of the policy’s illegality sends a clear message to board members Doug Crow, Alice Nicks, and Angela Graziosi, urging them to repeal the policy swiftly at the next board meeting.
“We founded Action for Tomorrow to focus on issues that support the brightest, boldest, and most life-giving views of each other and our community; things that foster indiscriminate human flourishing,” Wynia said. He warned of a “depraved future” if actions that are discriminatory, dehumanizing, divisive, and contemptuous continue to capture people’s focus and drive their actions.
The letter, drafted by ACLU Senior Staff Attorney Amy Gilbert, describes the passed policy as “incoherent.” It reads, “Yet even if Policy 8805 were coherent enough to be enforced, it would be a brazen attack on students’ First Amendment rights to free expression.” The letter cites Rosenberger v. Rectors and Visitors of the University of Virginia, 515 U.S. 819, 829 (1995), to argue that the policy violates the First Amendment’s prohibition of viewpoint discrimination. The letter concludes by suggesting that the motive behind Policy 8805 was to remove the display of a Pride flag from a classroom.