"Who does not love rainbows?": Davis Pride celebrations face pushback
DAVIS -- Davis Pride is concerned that some people in the community are on a mission to disrupt their celebration.
"Everybody was very excited to have rainbow crosswalks because who does not love rainbows," said director of Yolo Rainbow Families Anoosh Jorjorian.
Some people were not as excited that students at Birch Lane Elementary School painted a rainbow on the crosswalk out in front.
"There was one parent who went and confronted the principal," said Jorjorian.
Davis Pride director Sandré Henriquez Nelson also said they learned the same thing from other parents and students.
"They were basically threatening the school staff that they were going to wash off the paint," said Henriquez Nelson.
We spoke with the Davis mother named Beth who confronted school staff. She is concerned that this Pride topic is not appropriate for children.
"I was very polite, and I was very thoughtful in sharing my concerns," said Beth. "Instead they should have the children learn about what memorial day means and our fallen soldiers."
The city washed off the paint because it was improperly covering the yellow stripes on the crosswalk, not because of the complaint.
"Me personally, I do not care," said mother of Birch Lane Elementary schoolers Stephanie Smith. "I could see how some people would not like that for little kids or whatever."
In response, students decked out the school in sidewalk chalk to show their support for the LGBTQ+ community.
"I think it is a good way to celebrate Pride," said Henry Hill, a student at Birch Lane Elementary.
Target in Davis is also celebrating Pride, but employees there tell us about 70% of their Pride merch was taken down after they received threats from Davis customers.
"Those workers aren't the ones making those products so they should not be the ones getting the blame," said Hill.
Target released a statement this week saying that for more than a decade it has been offering Pride Month merch, but given the volatile circumstances this year it is removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior.
"If they felt like they had to protect the employees, I guess that is what they had to do," said Stuart Eldrige who was shopping at Target on Friday.
Beth said she will continue to fight to change what children are learning inside of schools.
"I am able to speak out for dozens maybe hundreds of parents who are afraid to say something," said Beth. "We will be at the Pride Festival, we will have a group of de-transitioners. These are women and men who have been harmed by gender medicine."
With what appears to be more pushback to Pride, is the typically progressive Davis community seeing a shift in attitudes? The Davis Pride director said "No."
"It is a small few when we have a large community that really supports," said Henriquez Nelson.
A sociologist told CBS13 that now that social media exists, the LGBTQ+ community can advocate more for themselves, and that scares people.
Davis Pride said the pushback will not stop them. The Davis Phoenix Coalition will be painting crosswalks across the community on Sunday. You can find a full list of Davis Pride Month events here.
"We are still a very inclusive community," said Jorjorian.
