Tensions high in California, protesters brawl as school board took up recognizing Pride Month

Many of the parental rights activists were from the conservative Armenian and Hispanic communities.

Published: June 7, 2023 3:41pm

Protestors brawled in Southern California outside of the Glendale Unified School District Board Meeting over LGBT+ policies in the classroom, resulting in at least three arrests, police said Wednesday.

Several hundred people, some carrying Pride flags and others with American Flags, gathered in the school district headquarters parking lot for the board's meeting Tuesday night as the board was set to vote on a resolution titled, "Proclaiming June 2023 as LGBTQ+ Pride Month."

"While most of the protest was peaceful, a small group of individuals engaged in behavior deemed unsafe and a risk to public safety. Despite police attempts to de-escalate the situation, at least three individuals were arrested for various charges, including unlawful use of pepper spray and willfully obstructing officers in the course of their duties," the Glendale Police Department said Wednesday.

"After the initial arrests, additional attempts to de-escalate the crowd failed," the department also said, as videos show protesters threw punches. Police issued a dispersal order shortly after 6 p.m. in an effort to stop the violence.

Many of the parental rights activists were from the conservative Armenian and Hispanic communities, The Daily Signal reported. Some of them wore shirts with the phrase, "Leave our kids alone," while many pro-LGBT protesters wore pink bandanas, footage of the event shows.

Late Tuesday evening, the Glendale school board on Tuesday approved the resolution designating June as Pride Month for the fifth year in a row, according to The Associated Press.

Madeleine Hubbard is an international correspondent for Just the News. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.