- Republican committee members advanced a bill banning most flags in classrooms and government building grounds.
- The bill would allow the display of official flags representing the country, state, municipality or school.
- LGBTQ advocates questioned whether the broad scope of the bill is constitutional.
A flag can unite and a flag can divide. Oftentimes a flag can do both depending on who sees it.
House Republicans cited this as their reason for advancing a bill on Thursday that would prohibit most flags from being displayed by government entities.
HB77, Flag Display Amendments, would limit the flags that a local government or a public school teacher can display to official flags representing the country, state, municipality or school.
“A flag can lead to unity, or flags could lead to disunity, but we’re going toward the one, united flag that we have, our American flag, our state flag,” Rep. Nicholeen Peck, R-Tooele, said. “Those are things that should bring us all together as people, no matter our differences, and I think that’s the point of this bill.”
The original version of the bill, and the majority of comments during the House Education Committee on Thursday, focused on the kind of flags public school teachers should be allowed to display in their classroom.
Politically charged flags can distract from the mission of the state’s public education system, according to the bill sponsor, Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton. But the symbolism of flags can also be a boon for struggling students, opponents of the bill said.
“This bill will present a dangerous precedent of discrimination and the infringement of the First Amendment rights of free speech,” Sandy resident Nova Adstrum said. “My best educational experiences came from the educators I was able to form a connection with because they were just like me.”
How would the bill work?
Lee’s bill would prohibit public schools and government entities from placing a flag “in a prominent location where the flag can easily be seen” unless the flag is one of a dozen exceptions.
Under the bill, teachers in their classrooms, or government entities in or on their grounds, would only be allowed to display:
- Official state or national flags.
- Municipal flags.
- Military flags.
- Tribal flags.
- Country flags.
- Public university flags or official public school flags.
- Altered versions of these flags would not be allowed.
“The education system in our schools should be in place for children to learn, to not feel like they are being pushed, or seen as agendas in one way or another as it pertains to political beliefs,” Lee said.
The bill clarifies that lapel pins, signs, flags temporarily displayed as part of approved course curriculum, and flags temporarily displayed by an organization authorized to use public schools, would not be impacted.
The state auditor would be required to establish a process to investigate alleged violations of the statute, to alert the government entity of a confirmed violation and to apply a fine of $500 per violation per day if the entity fails to cure the violation within 30 days.
Proponents of the bill said these policy changes would help ensure that classrooms don’t force a stand off between teachers and students who are offended by a flag with ideological symbolism.
Two years ago, Lehi resident Aaron Bullen’s 10-year-old son came home upset from elementary school because a rainbow flag had been placed in his computer lab, he told the committee.
The rainbow, or pride, flag, which represents LGBTQ acceptance, was taken down after a complaint was made to the principal, but it temporarily allowed the school to promote a symbol that was offensive to his son, Bullen said.
“This message conflicts with my family’s religious beliefs. It tells my son that his faith, his parents and his values are wrong,” Bullen said. “That is not neutrality; that is religious discrimination at a public institution.”
Equality Utah, one of the largest LGBTQ activist groups in the state, was initially neutral on the bill when it was limited to public school classrooms.
However, they came out in opposition to the bill when Lee unveiled the substitute version which expanded the scope to all government entities.
“This new language is likely unconstitutional and a violation of the First Amendment rights of governments to engage in free speech,” Equality Utah’s policy director Marina Lowe said.
Ellie Menlove, a legislative counsel for ACLU Utah, also questioned the bill’s legal standing and argued that pride flags are not political symbols.
Third time’s the charm?
Lee’s bill includes “almost identical” language to provisions inserted in a bill file during an 11th-hour legislative maneuver last legislative session.
Hours before the end of the 2024 session, Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, substituted the text of a House bill, dealing with public school employees under investigation, with measures that would specify which flags teachers could display in their classrooms.
The procedural slight of hand, which skirted the bicameral committee process, split the Republican supermajority in the Senate, leading to the potentially popular proposal crashing in a 9-20 rejection.
McCay’s bill came four days after a more expansive proposal met a similar end in the lower chamber. The bill, sponsored by former Rep. Jeff Stenquist, R-Draper, would have prohibited public school teachers from endorsing or disparaging political or religious viewpoints in class.
It narrowly failed to pass from the House in a 32-39 vote after opponents shared concerns that the restrictions would discourage teachers from engaging in important conversations with students out of fear of reprisal.
Lee believes his bill avoids the pitfalls of its ill-fated predecessors by following proper process and maintaining a narrow focus on flags to achieve ideological neutrality in public school classrooms.
Chad Saunders, a member of the State Central Committee for the Utah Republican Party who raised his children in Tooele County, said prior to Thursday’s hearing that there is only one flag that has stood up for people on all sides of political and religious extremes.
“The most inclusive flag in the world is the American flag and I think we need to remember that,” Saunders said. “If we really want our kids to know that we are a safe space for them, we need to make sure they see that we proudly fly the American flag.”
Lee’s bill will now be added to the docket for a full-chamber vote on the House floor.