Parent Who Posted Anti-LGBTQ+ Flag Video Suing After Being Banned From Grosse Pointe Schools Buildings
Deposit photo
Posted For: MidNightRider2001
Gary Pruitt, a parent in Grosse Pointe, has filed a lawsuit against the Grosse Pointe Public Schools, challenging his ban from district schools. The restriction followed a video he posted in 2024 criticizing a LGBTQ+ flag displayed in a classroom and accusing certain teachers of promoting what he called “indoctrination.”
The federal lawsuit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Detroit, asserts that the school system violated Pruitt’s First Amendment rights by barring him from school property. The case was first reported by the Detroit Free Press.
Court documents detail that Pruitt attended his child’s back-to-school night at Parcells Middle School in Grosse Pointe Woods in September 2024, where he noticed LGBTQ+ flags displayed in classrooms. After raising questions with the principal about the curriculum, he was directed to contact the school board for further clarification.
Following an email exchange with a board member, Pruitt shared a video of the classroom flag to a Facebook group for district parents. In the post, he described the flag as “radical programming being forced upon children by adults” and asked, “Do you want to continue to let these groomer teachers push their distorted worldview upon your children?”
Soon afterward, the school district notified Pruitt that he was banned from all district buildings. His lawsuit seeks to overturn the ban and requests financial compensation for the emotional distress and humiliation he says he suffered.
Emails included in the court filing show that on September 16, 2024, Pruitt wrote to the school board: “In short, I was told there would not be much done about it.” He added that he had spoken to other parents who shared his concerns, stating, “I have ZERO plans on dropping the issue as I have spoken with dozens of parents in the school district who also find it completely unacceptable that adults are trying to indoctrinate children with these symbols of homosexuality.”
Board member Valarie St. John responded the same day, emphasizing that no teacher had been required to display rainbow flags. She also advised that if Pruitt’s concern was merely seeing the colors, he could send his child with tinted sunglasses to “avoid being subjected to the full spectrum.”
On October 21, 2024, Pruitt received a letter from the Farmington Hills law firm Collins & Blaha notifying him of a no-trespass order. The letter, authored by attorney John C. Kava, noted that Pruitt had filmed a classroom and a staff member and posted the video online with a narrative questioning the teachers’ influence on children. The letter warned that violating the ban could result in criminal charges, though the district would review the order at a later date.
Neither the Grosse Pointe School Board nor attorney Kava immediately responded to requests for comment from Deadline Detroit.
About Post Author
