The president of a Utah school’s parent teacher association allegedly ordered LGBT flags to be placed on a family’s property without their permission.
In a video shared on Twitter by Utah mother April Wilde Despain, a woman is shown standing in the yard with a brace of Pride flags and says in response to questions that Hillcrest Junior High PTA President Jennifer Auwerda ordered them.
“PTA president in @MurraySchoolsUT, Jennifer Auwerda, has relentlessly bullied me and my family just because we don’t want Gender/Queer ideology in Murray School District, Utah,” Despain wrote in the tweet containing the video. “Today she ordered 7 Pride flags to be staked into our front yard without our permission.”
The flags included the rainbow colors as well as black and brown stripes, which represent LGBT people of color.
PTA president in @MurraySchoolsUT, Jennifer Auwerda, has relentlessly bullied me and my family just because we don’t want Gender/Queer ideology in Murray School District, Utah. Today she ordered 7 Pride flags to be staked into our front yard without our permission.
🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈✊🏼 pic.twitter.com/a8aoltpqtQ
— April Wilde Despain (@AprilDespain) May 29, 2023
“Happy Pride to our favorite Murray Citizen, April Wilde Despain,” Auwerda replied to the video on Facebook, according to a screenshot shared by parental rights activist, Nicole Solas.
“As a mother of 6 children in Murray City School District, our family’s life was turned upside down when my son’s 3rd grade teacher read his class a book about transgenderism and then repeatedly lied to me about it,” Despain told the Daily Caller. “I tried working with Murray City School District to resolve my concerns, but instead of working with me they orchestrated a charade to cover up their teachers’ and administrators’ lies, and doubled down on their push for ‘equity.'”
Despain said she now homeschools her children, but that she wants to continue fighting for the children who still attend the local public schools.
“I’ve continued working to publicly expose the educators in MCSD who promote gender and queer theory. As a result of my work, Murray School District’s PTA President, Jennifer Sewell Auwerda, came onto my social media attempting to bully and shame me and my family into silence,” she said.
Despain told the Caller that she urged Auwerda to stop, but that the PTA president refused.
“It finally culminated in her sending 7 LGBTQ Pride flags, which she knew are contrary to our religious and personal beliefs, to be staked into my front yard without my permission, ” Despain continued.
Despain ran unsuccessfully for Murray City School Board in 2022, according to Utah election results.
On June 2, Hepworth Legal, a Utah-based law firm, reportedly sent a cease and desist letter to Despain, saying Auwerda is allegedly prosecuting for “cyber bullying and invasion of privacy,” according to another Facebook post by Solas.