Parents protesting Pride event at North Hollywood elementary school

A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Unified School District says the June 2 event will include an assembly and teachers will read students a book titled, The Great Big Book of Families, which highlights diversity.

LOS ANGELES - A protest is scheduled at a North Hollywood elementary school in response to a Pride event that has sparked outrage among some parents.

A flyer circulating among the Saticoy Elementary School community details the June 2 protest to counter a Pride event in which an assembly and teachers will read students a book by Mary Hoffman titled "The Great Big Book of Families," which talks about diversity and "all kinds of families."

"LAUSD has announced that on June 2nd school wide from K-12 students will be taught about LGBTQ+ during an assembly. Videos will be shown to the students including one where it says, ‘some kids have 2 mommies, some have 2 daddies.’ This has caused outrage among parents, many of them emailing/calling LAUSD higher ups to complain about this day and protesting by not taking their children to school that day."

The district says parents can allow their child to skip the program.

Parents who oppose the program have launched an Instagram account, Saticoy Elementary Parents. A message posted on the Instagram page tells parents "who share conservative values" and "don’t feel this material is appropriate to teach to the children" to protest outside the school at the start of the school day on June 2.

The district has since released the following statement in response to the protest:

"Los Angeles Unified is committed to creating a safe and inclusive learning environment that embraces the diversity of the communities we serve. The District encourages everyone in our school communities to treat each other with respect, kindness and compassion so that our students can be empowered to achieve their greatest potential.As part of our engagement with school communities, our schools regularly discuss the diversity of the families that we serve and the importance of inclusion. This remains an active discussion with our school communities and we remain committed to continuing to engage with families about this important topic. Families are always encouraged to discuss important topics with their children and families may also contact their schools for more information about any school programs or activities."

The planned protest comes after the Los Angeles Police Department continues to investigate a break-in and vandalism at Saticoy Elementary over the weekend as a "hate-motivated incident," a LAUSD spokesperson confirmed.