So, insisting on pride and LGBTQ visibility was a way to reverse that,” says Conor Moynihan, a curatorial fellow at the RISD Museum, who explains that the term queer, once a derogatory label, has been reclaimed as an umbrella phrase implying a resistance to the heteronormative status quo.Īfter Stonewall, from the 1970s on, art became a safe space where overtly gay, lesbian, trans, queer and nonconforming ideas, subjects and images could be freely explored. “Pride was a reversal of shame, and there was long shame around being gay or gender-nonconforming.
The Stonewall rebellion, commemorated every June since 1970, ushered in an era of pride and openness, which gained traction and visibility, in part, through art and visual culture.
Their efforts quickly drew allies, and five days of heated protests ensued. Fed up with decades of discrimination and emboldened by civil rights gains made by other marginalized communities, the Stonewall’s customers resisted arrest and began rioting in the streets. The well-documented tipping point was June 1969, when a routine police raid on the Stonewall Inn - a bar in Greenwich Village known for drawing a gay, lesbian and transgender crowd - unwittingly gave rise to an ongoing groundswell of LGBTQ activism.Īt the time, homosexuality was illegal in 49 states, gays and lesbians were barred from working for the federal government, and police treated cross-dressing as a punishable crime. June 20, 2021Homosexuality and gender fluidity have appeared as subjects in art for millennia, but for modern Western cultures, it wasn’t until the late 20th century that artists could treat such themes overtly, without fear of censorship, ostracism or even arrest. Photo courtesy of the Leslie-Lohman Museum, Peter Hujar Archive, LLC Top: Gay Liberation Front Poster, 1970, by Peter Hujar. We are following our protocols and procedures and are conducting an investigation.Study for Portrait of John Edwards 1986, 1987, by Francis Bacon. “We are aware of a reported incident involving some of our students at Sartartia Middle School who report an interaction with a teacher, which the students stated left them feeling disrespected and marginalized. Instead, the kids felt ridiculed and less than, and honestly, afraid because the teacher lost control,” the parent said.įort Bend ISD sent the following statement regarding the incident: “This was an opportunity to have a productive conversation. In peach-colored chalk, the phrase is covering the original chalk art. “The teacher then threatened to pour a drink on the chalk art, and finally grabbed some chalk and wrote ‘HETEROS RULE’ over the pride flags,” the parent said. The student and parent said the supervising teacher told the students to erase the pride flags, and when the students refused, the parent said the teacher acted inappropriately.
The chalk art consisted of gay pride and transgender pride flags.
Her daughter said she and other students were chalking up the courtyard sidewalk during their free period. Keeping in mind that the safety, health, and social and emotional well-being of our students and staff are always our top priority, we were extremely disheartened to hear about these allegations from members of the Sartartia Middle School community as well as some of our feeder pattern high schools. “We have been made aware of an unfortunate incident involving some of our students who reported an interaction with a teacher, which the students stated left them feeling disrespected and marginalized. The email, which came from Sartartia Middle School Principal Cholly Oglesby, stated: “I just got an email that something happened with a teacher and a student,” said one parent. Students and parents told KPRC 2 that the teacher wrote “Heteros Rule” on top of the chalk art, causing concern. FORT BEND COUNTY – Sartartia Middle School students are concerned over the alleged reaction of a teacher after students drew chalk art, which included chalk drawings of gay pride flags.įort Bend ISD sent out an email to parents notifying them about an incident, but the email left out the details of what happened.