Parental rights leaders are condemning a “Women’s History Month” mural in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., which celebrates men who claim to be women.
Fairfax County Public Schools, the school district overseeing West Springfield High School in northern Virginia, says students designed the mural, but critics still condemn the display as “complete lunacy.”
The Women’s History Month display, which features an “ABCs” theme, begins with “A is for abortion;” presents former Vice President Kamala Harris in the image for “H is for hope” and “L is for leadership;” pushes LGBTQ+ activism in an image saying “Q is for queer;” and celebrates men who claim to be women with “T is for trans women.”
“This is so inappropriate for a school display that I at first thought it was parody,” Erika Sanzi, director of outreach at the parental rights group Parents Defending Education, told The Daily Signal in a statement Monday. “It’s hyper-partisan and ideological and unbelievably celebrates men who pretend to be women.”
“It perfectly encapsulates the complete lunacy that so many students have to deal with in their schools and helps to explain why we are seeing such a backlash to this nonsense among young people,” Sanzi added.
Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty, also criticized the mural.
“It’s Women’s History Month. Please tell me what having a mental disorder, like thinking you’re transgender, has to do with women’s history,” she told The Daily Signal in a phone interview Monday.
Justice condemned gender ideology as “incredibly regressive for women,” because it pushes rigid notions of gender roles—such as the idea that only boys play with G.I. Joes and only girls play with dolls, for instance—so far as to say that a boy who plays with a doll must really be a girl on the inside.
“We’ve seen that this transgender cult has hijacked women and the women’s movement,” she added.
Justice called the incident “further proof that they continue to have the institutions captured and we have to fight harder to free the schools, free the kids, too.”
The solution, she insisted, is parental involvement.
“None of this stuff happens when the parents are in the classroom paying attention,” Justice said. “The best way that you fight against woke is you get parents in schools: volunteering, visiting, involved in what their kids are learning.”
Fairfax County Public Schools declined to comment on whether the high school endorses the mural’s message, but a spokeswoman said students led the project.
“This is a student-led history project that is part of an elective Women’s History Class,” Julie Allen, a media relations manager at the school district, told The Daily Signal.
The U.S. Department of Education has taken numerous steps to oppose gender ideology in schools, including opening investigations into school districts that allow males to compete in girls’ sports.
“We are committed to honoring President Trump’s agenda to make our classrooms places of meaningful learning, not divisive and harmful gender ideology,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon told The Daily Signal.
