Parents and children walking to Monte Vista Elementary School last Friday were wearing green for School Pride Day when they were confronted by three people shoving a flyer into the parents' hands. It charged that eight Democrats running for office were in agreement with what the flyer called Santa Barbara Unified's "child porn in public schools." On the page were panels from Gender Queer, a graphic memoir found in Santa Barbara High's library. It depicted two young people having oral sex and a conversation marked with a heart.
"The people were yelling, 'Take it! Take it! You need to know! You're in the dark!'" said Jennifer Yau, who had walked with her three children to school that day. "I was curious, so I took one," she said, even though the principal had told her it wasn't school-related.
That Friday was Coffee with the Principal Day, as well as School Pride Day. Principal Hans Rheinschild was all set to meet parents; instead, several brought him the flyers. "Three people were at the end of the driveway, on school property where there's a stop sign, and they were handing it out as people stopped," Rheinschild said. As he walked down the driveway, he called the Hope School District superintendent, Anne Hubbard, who hotfooted it over to Monte Vista.
