A group of San Francisco 1st graders took a field trip to City Hall with a twist: They went to surprise their lesbian teacher on her wedding day, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The students blew bubbles and tossed rose petals outside the main doors, and then crowded their teacher with hugs as she and her new wife exited the ceremony.
The field trip occurred less than a month before voters in California will make a decision on Proposition 8, which aims to outlaw gay marriage and prevent students from learning about same-sex marriage in school.
Interim director of Creative Arts Charter School, Liz Jaroflow, condoned the parent-proposed excursion, calling it a “teachable moment” and stating, “it’s certainly an issue I would be willing to put my job on the line for.” The 18 students who attended had parental permission. Two students whose families chose to opt out were placed in another first grade classroom for the 90-minute duration.
Still, proponents of Prop. 8 lambasted the activity. “It’s just utterly unreasonable that a public school field trip would be to a same-sex wedding,” Chip White, press secretary for the Yes on 8 campaign, said. “This is overt indoctrination of children who are too young to have an understanding of its purpose.”
Parents at Creative Arts who supported the trip are planning to make a video with the children describing what marriage means to them. One attending six-year-old said simply, “it’s people falling in love. You stay with someone the rest of your life.”