On August 26, Chino Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) Board of Education President Sonja Shaw wrote a post on X (formerly Twitter) calling out teachers who have safe space posters in their classrooms. President Shaw’s concerns about the poster followed the approval of CVUSD Administrative Regulation 6115 in June 2023, which bans the display of flags other than the United States of America and State of California flag in classrooms.
For many years, CVUSD teachers have displayed a poster, given by the California Teachers Association, in their classrooms which state, “This is a safe and inclusive space for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, queer, students and their allies,” along with a rainbow graphic.
“LGBTQ+ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning] students still have to deal with bullying or other students making comments and seeing a safe space poster may give them a little bit of encouragement to keep coming to class, to keep trying to be able to express themselves and their personalities and their identity,” Mr. Edgar Hernandez Estrada, AP Spanish and Spanish 1 teacher said.
The safe space posters have had a profound effect on many LGBTQ+ students on campus.
“When I first came to Ayala, it was really nice to see the safe space cards in the windows because I knew that I could be my genuine self in that class,” Collin Moreno-Crestejo (12), Gender and Sexuality Alliance Club President said. “The safe space posters allow for someone like myself or someone in the [LGBTQ+] community to be free and to not have that fear that they’ll be judged for who they are.”
However, when the district passed Administrative Regulation 6115, the rainbow graphic on the safe space posters now fell under the category of flags, a violation of the revised code. CVUSD administrators then began asking teachers to take down the safe space posters and forcibly removed materials if teachers didn’t comply.
“To state that teachers cannot have the safe space posters up could make students who do identify as LGBTQ+ feel like this is not a safe space,” a CVUSD teacher who took down their poster said. “It’s easy to say all spaces should be safe and that is the truth. It should be, but that is not the reality.”
In President Shaw’s post, she stated, “It’s time to call out the activist teachers who don’t represent the majority of dedicated educators. These individuals are using ‘SAFE SPACE’ signs to imply that your home isn’t safe and only their agenda can be trusted. This isn’t about safety– it’s about undermining parental authority and pushing an agenda that has no place in our schools.”
The Bulldog Times reached out to President Shaw for an interview which she agreed to do over email if time allowed. However, President Shaw didn’t follow up with her responses.
President Shaw’s post resulted in frustration amongst many LGBTQ+ students on campus.
“It almost reads that [CVUSD is] trying to take away a voice from LGBTQ+ people. They’re trying to make it as if we don’t exist, that we’re not here, and that maybe that we aren’t safe here,” Moreno-Crestejo said. “There are so many LGBTQ+ kids in Ayala, in Chino Hills High, Chino, and Don Lugo, but you’re basically telling us to be silenced and that we’re not safe here. I think that’s a truly disgusting thing.”
President Shaw emphasized that most educators are against the use of safe space signs in her post, but many CVUSD teachers feel differently and believe that they have a sense of duty to ensure all students, including those that identify as LGBTQ+, are provided a space where they’re comfortable to learn.
“When someone that is not in the classroom or someone that has not had the pleasure of working with LGBTQ+ students talks about identity, I think that person needs to come to class and learn about the struggles of being an LGBTQ+ student and how that impacts their learning,” Hernandez said. “If you’re a leader, you’re leading for everyone. You’re not just leading for the few or the ones that agree with the way that you see the world. Your job is to protect every single student, not just a few.”
Despite the banning of safe space posters in CVUSD, LGBTQ+ students on campus feel empowered, now more than ever before, to create a welcoming LGBTQ+ community themselves.
“I feel proud to be that stereotypical gay kid that everyone looks at and stares at in school because who else is going to do it,” Moreno-Crestejo said. “Who else is going to show these LGBTQ kids that it’s okay to be different, that it’s okay to be effeminate, to be a boy who wears makeup, to be a boy that has a feminine voice? I am proud to be that.”
