LGBTQ students walk out in protest at Farmington High
School denied requests to raise Pride flag in campus courtyard
FARMINGTON — More than a dozen members of the Farmington High School Gender Sexuality Alliance Club walked out of school Monday morning in protest of having their requests denied to raise a Pride flag on the flagpole in the school courtyard.
The goal of the walkout, students said, was to remain in the courtyard for at least 12 hours — starting at 7 a.m. — or until officials allowed for the flag to be flown.
The school year in Farmington ends Tuesday, and the students who walked out intermittently took breaks for finals or project presentations.
Having the Pride flag flown is no small matter, according to Farmington High GSA co-president Oliver Przech, who said he and his peers have been the frequent targets of bullying and microaggressions throughout their school careers.
“For a lot of people, there have been daily insults, slurs, harassment,” Przech said. “For me, it’s mostly been microaggressions, people giving me looks, people throwing stuff at me.”
Przech said posters announcing the first GSA meeting of the year at the school were torn down, requiring members of the club to hang posters in front of cameras. He also said one of his teachers apologized but went unpunished after uttering a homophobic slur in class recently.
Alex Combs, a freshman at Farmington High agreed.
“Every day we are harassed. While the school has supports in place, it’s not enough. We feel invisible,” Combs said. “Raising a flag at the high school would send a powerful message of allyship, letting us — and the entire Farmington community — know that the district supports us and is working to provide us the same education our cis/het peers get.”
In addition to the students’ request being denied, Przech said teachers at the high school were not permitted to show their support by displaying Pride flags in their classrooms.
“We’ve been denied time and
to the press at private fundraising events.
The Connecticut Democratic Party announced Monday that public officials would be attending the protest, including Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, state legislators Eleni Kavros-degraw of Avon and Jillian Gilchrest of West Hartford, Simsbury Selectman and legislative candidate Eric Wellman and Chris Mattei, a former federal prosecutor who explored a run for governor in 2018 and ran for state attorney general.
Despite pledging to spend $10 million of his own money on the race, Stefanowski has continued to raise money. The top ticket price for the Ricketts fundraiser was $3,500 per person, which included entrance to a VIP reception. The ticket prices were $2,500 for a platinum supporter, $1,000 for gold supporter and $250 for a “Save CT Supporter,’’ according to an invitation that was obtained by The Courant.
The campaign has sent out invitations for a major fundraiser with New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu that has a maximum ticket price of $3,500 each.
Stefanowski is locked in a high-stakes, big-money battle against Gov. Ned Lamont, a fellow millionaire former business executive. Lamont has already spent more than $40 million of his own money in three statewide races in 2006, 2010, and 2018. He is expected to spend millions more this year to keep his current position.
Lamont’s campaign reacted quickly to the cancellation.
“After refusing to release his consulting clients and his 2018 NRA questionnaire, this is just the latest attempt from Bob to conceal his actual positions from the voters of Connecticut,’’ said Jake Lewis, the campaign spokesman. “However, Bob’s record speaks for itself: from supporting Trump and Trump’s justices that are on the verge of overturning Roe v. Wade, to his promise to ‘veto any legislation that makes it tougher on gun owners.’ The simple truth remains that Bob is too extreme for Connecticut.”
Stefanowski, who turned 60 on May 21, is trying to break a 15-year losing streak by Republicans in major races in Connecticut. In 2006, then-gov. M. Jodi Rell and then-u.s. Rep. Chris Shays of Bridgeport both won reelection. But Shays lost in the Democratic wave that swept in Obama as president in 2008, and no Connecticut Republican has won a seat for Congress, governor or other statewide office since then.