House Bill 10 is dangerous for Idaho’s youth. It is a clear attempt to further marginalize students who are already vulnerable in our state. The LGBT+ flag is the specific target of this bill.
According to data collected by The Trevor Project in 2023, 52% of LGBTQ+ youth in Idaho seriously considered suicide, and 19% attempted suicide. Research shows that students who live in affirming environments and receive social support have significantly lower rates of suicide attempts.
Students have stated that simply seeing an LGBTQ+ flag helps them identify a space as affirming and supportive.
This is why I display a rainbow flag in my classroom: to show these students that they matter and that their lives have worth. Every year, I have had students tell me that they immediately knew my classroom was a place where they were welcome because of that flag.
This is not a political statement. It is not meant to influence students’ beliefs. It is simply a means of suicide prevention.
If an intruder were to enter our school, we have been trained to protect our students by any means necessary. By displaying that flag in my classroom, I am doing the same—preventing student deaths by any means necessary.
Supporters of this bill have asked me if I would be okay with Nazi flags, Christian flags, or Confederate flags being displayed in classrooms. If youth were considering suicide because they were Nazis, Christians, or Southerners, then it would be an entirely different conversation.
I wish we lived in a time and place where the mere fact of a child’s existence wasn’t politicized. Where children weren’t treated so poorly that they believe suicide is a way out.
I wish for a time and place where our legislature spent more energy on preventing suicide than they do on making the lives of these children worse.
House Bill 10 is a partisan political bill designed to drive a wedge into the heart of Idaho. Bills like this exploit culture war issues to further divide the people of our state.
How many more Idaho children must die to score a few easy partisan political points?
Lawmakers, please do not pass this bill at the expense of our children.
Danny Gutierrez is a member of the Bonneville Education Association. He’s been an Idaho public school educator for seven years and is currently a middle school teacher in the Bonneville School District.
