Leja said she's been a go-to person for students who are out or questioning their identities. She added, "It’s legal in every state to get married it’s legal for LGBT people to exist in this country right now, so I don’t see how it's a political issue." "I think that being able to have a rainbow flag is as much a part of my identity as anything else." "The issue that I have with it is, I don’t think my existence and my identity is a political issue," she said. "Who you are is not impacted by this policy, only what is expressed in class through visual aids," he told her.īut for Leja, the pride flag is very much part of who she is. He also added that she is allowed to talk about her own sexuality or partner. "The courts have held LGBTQ+ issues to be political speech and thus, the rainbow flag to be political speech, so it cannot be expressed through clothing and other means, such as displaying a flag in your class," he told her.
In an email shared with BuzzFeed News, Caudill replied that yes, LGBTQ issues were included. She asked if, for example, she could display rainbows or mention that she has a girlfriend. When Leja read the policy, she reached out to Trustee Andrew Caudill to ask if the policy included LGBTQ issues.