Stoughton school re-raises Pride flag after burning

The school in Stoughton has finished what it started with a Pride Flag.

In June, the school put up a rainbow flag to celebrate Pride Month. It was supposed to fly for three days, but on the morning of the third day, it was discovered that the flag had been taken down and burned.

“It was really shocking and almost disturbing to think of how cruel people are. And, honestly, this wasn’t borne out of hate, it was borne out of ignorance and people not being educated on what’s going on,” said Jessica Baumgartner, a member of the school’s student representative council and its gay-straight alliance.

“We’re such a small town, we didn’t really think that anyone had a problem with it, and it was just really sad to find out that someone had done such a thing.”

On Thursday, the school had a ceremony to put a Pride flag back up for one day, finishing the three days that had been planned in June.

“It’s about inclusion and just making sure that, with what happened, we’re still showing our LGBTQ students and people in the community that they’re still welcome to be who they are,” said Baumgartner.

The RCMP had been investigating the incident, but Baumgartner said the perpetrator hadn’t been found yet.