Father sues Florida school district over pride flag display

A father in West Palm Beach, Fla., is suing his son's school district over the display of pride flags inside a classroom, alleged violations of a recent Florida state law.

Francisco Deliu alleges that computer science teacher Rachel Raos hung two pride flags in her classroom at Emerald Cove Middle School, which he labelled an attempt to "indoctrinate" students, including his son. The son reportedly told his father that Rao had not only hung the flags, but had used a search engine to find websites discussing LGBTQ issues.

"I felt that was improper because I don’t send my child to that school to be taught homosexuality and taught gay pride," Deliu told WPTB, the local NBC affiliate, per the The Hill. "I thought we sent children to school to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic." Deliu has pulled his son from Rao's class and told WPTB that he will amend the suit to include another teacher who also hung a pride flag in their classroom.

Deliu, a Christian, "wishes to teach his child about homosexual lifestyle choices not in the public school system but instead at home," per the complaint.

The suit currently names Rao, Emerald Cove Principal Dr. Eugina Smith-Freeman, and the Palm Beach County school board as defendants.

The "Parent's Bill of Rights," which grants parents the right to direct their children's education and the "moral or religious training," forms the basis of the suit, according to The Hill. It is a separate law from the much maligned "Don't Say Gay" or Parental Rights in Education Act, which bars discussion of sexual topics in younger classes.

DeSantis signed the bill into law in March, saying he had seen "classroom materials about sexuality and woke gender ideology" and "libraries with clearly inappropriate, pornographic mature materials for very young kids."