Nursery Pride face painting

[insomniaclife]

Went to pick up three year old from nursery.
Staff and all kids in her class had rainbows painted on their faces.
“nice rainbows” I said. Staff said “we’re celebrating Pride”.

Is this normal? The timing seems odd - it’s not Pride week is it?

Absolutely yes to all types of families, no to rainbow face painting in nursery- it’s a political symbol and nursery children are far too young. It’s not dissimilar to children being made to wear a poppy in school on Poppy Day for the service (happened at my child’s high school).

Are you ok? What world do you live in where you think white pride is anywhere close to being the same as gay pride?

I agree on one point. The trans movement has nonsensically attached itself to LGB movements. One is about who you love. The other is about immersive gender stereotyped role play. The two are not connected.

While the rainbow and gay pride may be tainted for you, it doesn't mean that gay pride recognition should be squashed. Far from it.

It's like saying, "TIMs have co-opted IWD, so we shouldn't celebrate international women's day because it's been tainted by pretenders."

This thread doesn't belong on this board either. It's got nothing to do with feminism.

I agree with you though. Pride is political.

There are other ways to normalise same sex attraction and both sex attraction without pushing the Pride organisation.

Well, for one, the rainbow came to be seen as the kind of thing only a bigot would oppose. That opened the door for a whole host of terrible policies, many of which have done real-world harm, because normal scrutiny was bypassed and dissent smothered.

Same reason we shouldn’t put the church on a pedestal, or go in for excessive patriotism, or label children with identities. Because the world is messy, motives are mixed, and the best defence against bad things is to think things through on their merits, not wave them through on their colours.

That they’re taught they might be born in the wrong body.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1899756/children-come-out-trans-any-age/amp

That they’re exposed to gender stereotyping

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11541117/amp/Story-toddler-identifies-girl-features-Stonewalls-LGBTQ-reading-list.html

That they’re accused of transphobia (!)

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/toddler-suspended-nursery-transphobic-b2724495.html

It’s not the LBG that’s the problem. It’s the T.

Pushed hard by who?

@afuckinggoat What world do you live in where you think white pride is anywhere close to being the same as gay pride?

I agree. What we are agreeing on is that we need to consider the symbolism not the surface.

That was in reply to a poster who said rainbows were fine because some parents are gay. I don’t think that level of analysis gets to the issues.

Misunderstood leaders perhaps. The actual Ofsted early years framework says:

• Practitioners value and promote equality and diversity and prepare children for life in modern Britain. They do this in an age-appropriate way to help children to reflect on their differences and understand what makes them unique. Practitioners do this by: teaching children to be respectful and to recognise those who help us, and contribute positively to society; developing children’s understanding of fundamental British values; developing children’s understanding and appreciation of diversity; celebrating what we have in common; and routinely challenging stereotypical behaviours and promoting respect for different people.

All great sentiments, particularly the age-appropriate bit.

Books, small world play, talking about children’s actual families are all fine. Promoting Pride, linked so inextricably with the homophobic elements such as the cotton ceiling and transbians, along with the notion that you can change sex, is not.

I can't find anyone on this thread saying "If there are gay parents, they wouldn't be parents without assistance".

So why have you set up this straw man?

Yes. LGB are sexualities. Which most, bar the few bigots) are accepting of as normal, not a thing these days. Thankfully.

However the T, is an identity. And people like Stonewall and Extreme ‘Trans Rights Activists’ TRAs have piggybacked on to LGB masses of goodwill for their own purposes.

Hence the originator of Stonewall left the company and disowned it. He was hounded out by ETRAs. disgusting.

At least we have the SC judgement now which whilst not changing the law, clarifies it.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9638119/amp/Stonewalled-aggressive-new-leaders-gay-rights-group-helped-launch.html

i understand though that people might not have considered the homophobia often found in pride, and that they might be well-intentioned.

Not sure how early years educators square away the trans aspect though.

@afuckinggoat

It's like saying, "TIMs have co-opted IWD, so we shouldn't celebrate international women's day because it's been tainted by pretenders."

I think this does get to one of the core issues. The meaning and symbolism of things changes, and we all agree that beyond a point that matters.

The blue line in a UK flag originally was about supporting police families. Then it came to be associated with pro-white extremists (the US flag, then by extension the UK one). Similar things have happened to many other symbols. Those matter when deciding what’s appropriate to use and when. And context and consent matters too. As a PP mentioned: what’s acceptable or even laudable when freely chosen (a poppy) can be objectionable when imposed, especially on children.

Posted at 13:53

So what? You don't need rainbows to be gay.

What .....?

This will also be true for a large proportion of heterosexual couples these days. That doesn't make them any less the parents of their children.

Painting a child’s face a bit intrusive really
they could have just painted pretty rainbows and display them
Why should they have their little faces painted representing an adults sexuality?

The blue line in a UK flag originally was about supporting police families.

Which flag is this?

I couldn't really get worked up about this one, 3 year olds haven't got a clue what pride is but probably loved the face painting.

If this happened this week, I assume that it is deliberate as a backlash against the Supreme Court.

Gay people are more than a rainbow, and when you had companies like Hornby making gay pride rainbow model trains and not giving a penny to any gay charity you understand that it's just a marketing tactic.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/oct/14/london-police-defy-ban-on-badges-linked-to-far-right-and-white-supremacy

And in US context:
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/06/09/the-short-fraught-history-of-the-thin-blue-line-american-flag-309767

I'm not saying the Met should or shouldn't have banned these patches. But the meaning of symbols does change, and that is relevant in judging where and how they should be used.

In her nursery there are several lesbian parent couples who are very loud in demanding LBGT+ content. The management like to please parents where possible - it's a fairly upmarket nursery with demanding parents but there is a limit to what they can do to meet their demands. This is an easy win for the nursery - the parents who want it are happy and the rest stay quiet, often aren't bothered.

They don't do face painting btw. I'm not saying all nurseries do this, but they definitely promote a range of cultures and lifestyles as per Ofsted and need to be able to demonstrate it.

Time for this again.. LGB✂️T+++++++

Its just a small face painting it would not bother me.

I have a small rainbow window sticker in my window it dont mean anything i just like it.

How inappropriate for three-year-olds to be involved in celebrating other people's sexual preferences (I assume none of the children themselves identify as LGBT at this point). Yes, you can teach them that some people have two dads or whatever, but they don't need to celebrate Pride.

You can get interrogate the theoretical implications of symbols if you like, but at face value, this is a nursery painting rainbows on the faces of children who presumably have face painting consent.

Taking it to this extreme makes us all look hysterical homophobes, and it not helpful to the cause fought for by the women on this forum.