Staff Reports
Pride Month is coming, and two local announcements this week show why parents are worried. The Columbus Education Association says it will march with Columbus City Schools in the Stonewall Columbus Pride March, and the Boston Public Library’s Pride calendar lists multiple Drag Queen Story Time events — widely reported as 19 sessions across branches. These are fresh, real events on public calendars, and they deserve public scrutiny from parents, taxpayers, and school boards.
What happened: schools and libraries are on the Pride calendar
The Columbus teachers’ union posted that “CEA will be marching again with the District for the Stonewall Columbus Pride Festival and Community Resource Fair.” Stonewall Columbus lists the Pride March under the theme “Until We’re All Free” and requires groups to register. In Boston, the public library’s Pride programming shows numerous Drag Queen Story Time entries across branches; many reports cite a total of 19 storytime events aimed at younger audiences. These are not rumors — these are scheduled events and organizational announcements on official calendars.
Why parents should care about Pride Month programming
Parents have a right to know whether public schools are taking students to events, what ages might be involved, and whether explicit parental opt‑in is required. The teachers’ union notice talks about marching “with the District,” but it doesn’t answer the obvious questions: which grades, which schools, and what permission slips will be sent home? Likewise, the Boston Public Library lists drag storytimes by branch, but parents deserve clear age guidance and content descriptions before their kids are exposed. Public institutions must stop treating woke programming as a surprise and start treating parents like partners, not afterthoughts.
This is part of a wider trend — and it gets amplified fast
Libraries and schools nationwide have run Pride-related programs for years, and Drag Queen Story Time has been a recurring flashpoint. What’s new is how fast local calendar posts get national attention and then become culture-war lightning rods. Amplifier social accounts and partisan outlets highlight these events and turn them into mass outrage — sometimes justified, sometimes overblown. Either way, the result is the same: parents are alarmed and institutions wind up answering angry calls. If public schools and libraries want to avoid that mess, they should be transparent, clear, and accountable from the start.
Bottom line: Pride Month programming in public institutions is a local issue with national heat. Columbus City Schools, the Columbus Education Association, and the Boston Public Library should publish clear rules about student participation and parental consent now. Parents should demand those answers and school boards should deliver them. If public institutions expect cooperation, they should stop springing surprise political theater on families and start showing some common sense — and some respect for parental rights.
