Missouri teacher resigns after school tells him to remove Pride flag

A Missouri teacher resigned last week after administrators in his school district told him he had to take down his Pride flag and that he couldn’t discuss human sexuality or “sexual preference” at school.

John M. Wallis, 22, who taught speech, theater and world mythology, said he hung a rainbow Pride flag in his classroom at Neosho Junior High School on the first day of school to create a welcoming environment for all students — and he said students noticed.

“I had, on the first day, about five students that came up to me and thanked me,” he said. “They said: ‘Thank you for having the flag up. I wouldn’t know where else to go.’”

But just two days later, on Aug. 26, Wallis said, he was called into a meeting with administrators, who told him that a parent had called and expressed concern that Wallis “would potentially teach their child to be gay.”