A federal appeals court ruled that New York teachers do not have a constitutional right to hang Pride flags in their classrooms, and the liberal reaction is utter outrage.
Christopher Dolce, an openly gay math teacher, filed a lawsuit against the Connetquot Central School District after a different math teacher was ordered in 2022 to take down a Pride flag and LGBTQ+ stickers from the classroom.
The court found that the sticker and Pride flag ban did not violate teachers’ constitutional rights.
Dolce claimed the policy was discriminatory and demanded that the district pay him damages.
Hundreds of students and parents rallied in 2022 at the school board meeting over the removal of the flag after several students reported feelings of discomfort over the flag.
The district said that teachers were not allowed to participate in political activities on school grounds.
After much public outrage and legal wrangling, a court has ruled four years later against the gay math teacher’s Pride flag. The court found that the sticker and Pride flag ban did not violate teachers’ constitutional rights and that they did not suffer any adverse employment actions from the policy.
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) had also directed the Division of Human Rights of New York state to investigate the district for potentially violating the Human Rights Law of the state.
The district noted in court that the policy did not restrict personal displays, such as an LGBTQ pin worn by a teacher or teachers displaying a photo of themselves and their same-sex partners.
RELATED: NY town official upset that LGBTQ+ members won’t be ‘seen’ after Pride flag is removed
‘What goes next on the slippery slope when a school can pick and choose arbitrarily, arbitrarily which symbols they like and which symbols they hate? That’s how you delete marginalized groups!” said attorney Andrew Lieb of the LGBT Network in 2022.
Sarah Ecke, the original teacher who was banned from flying a Pride flag, was also the leader of the Gay Straight Alliance at the school.
Lieb compared the LGBTQ Pride flag to the French flag while defending the teacher in April 2025.
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