Depositions reveal how an Ohio school board’s hunt for LGBTQ+ ‘ideology’ began

This story, written by Ben Jodway, originally appeared on The Buckeye Flame.Last February, the Little Miami School Board in suburban Cincinnati ordered a social studies teacher to remove a “Hate Has No Home Here” poster because it included images of LGBTQ+ and trans Pride flags, alongside other flags. In response, the Little Miami High School teacher George McIntyre sued the district for violating his First Amendment rights. Depositions from the board president, superintendent, high school principal, and an affidavit from a former teacher not only point to how the controversy started, but also to how the hunt for LGBTQ+ “ideology” has disrupted learning environments and could endanger students.In the affidavit, a former Little Miami School District teacher said LGBTQ+ students are “often subject to sexual harassment, bullying, taunts, and slurs.”“I believe that members of the LMSD School Board have demonstrated animus towards LGBTQ+ students,” the teacher said.Here’s what we learned from reviewing the depositions.Who told the school board about the poster?McIntyre, the high school principal and school superintendent, each said in their depositions that they had never received a complaint about the “Hate Has No Home here” poster – which had been up for multiple years – prior to School Board President David Wallace’s first year on the board, and that Wallace was the only person ever to record a complaint about the poster. Wallace said in his deposition he had heard complaints “from a few parents.” But he named only one person who complained: Silas Shelton, a local former pastor who pled guilty to multiple counts of sexual conduct involving a minor in April. He was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison and required to register as a sex offender.“I believe he was the one that brought it to my attention … probably shortly after I got elected, if not during the campaign before I was elected,” Wallace said at the start of his deposi