General Assembly Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Tennessee) credits parents for getting the ball rolling.
"I had parents and one school board member that came to me in my capacity as a state representative complaining that there were pride flags that teachers and counselors were displaying on their desks and on the walls at certain public schools," Bulso shares.
They had already addressed the school administration and board about the issue, saying it was inappropriate for those flags to be there.
"They could not get any help, and so I told them that I would help," the representative continues. "I put together a bill that started out by simply saying that only the U.S. flag and the Tennessee flag could be flown or displayed in our schools and on our school buildings."
As the bill went through the legislative and committee process, it was expanded to allow up to 12 different categories of flags on school grounds, including the POW/MIA, armed forces, and ROTC flags and flags of a college or university.
"The effort was to make sure that we did not continue to have these types of political flags being displayed in schools where parents objected to them," the representative notes.
Late last month, the Tennessee House passed the bill to ban displaying LGBTQ flags in public school classrooms. The 70-24 vote in the Republican-controlled House sent the legislation to the Senate, and its next stop could be Governor Bill Lee's (R) desk for signature.
