A Muslim member of the Fairfax County School Board came under attack from a student-led LGBT advocacy group Friday for her alleged refusal to be a “100 percent ally” of the movement.
The Pride Liberation Project (PLP) posted a letter Friday, accusing the school board member Abrar Omeish, of creating a “deeply hurtful and traumatic environment for members” of the advocacy group during a June 21 phone call.
Omeish allegedly expressed doubts about the necessity for an explicit encouragement of queer students, noting that there was a “difference between going after oppression and endorsing,” the letter claimed.
Additionally, the school board member said that being invited to a gay pride parade would “give [her] pause,” the PLP alleged. (RELATED: Woman Blasts Virginia School Board For Sneaking CRT Into Teacher Training)
Thread (1/5): Today at noon, the Pride Liberation Project released a press release discussing harmful statements made by @AbrarOmeish during a private meeting with Brown, Muslim, South Asian, and North African student representatives of the PLP. pic.twitter.com/VMQ0pZNg7t
— Pride Liberation Project (@PrideLiberation) July 16, 2021
In the letter, the PLP demanded that Omeish issue a statement, including an apology for her remarks; a “broad affirmation” of queer students; a clarification on her being the only member absent during a June 17 vote on the motion to include non-traditional family structures in the Family, Life, and Education curriculum; a “commitment to center queer students”; and a resolve to “promote queer visibility and representation in the future.”
The activists also called on Omeish to attend “family-friendly Pride Parades” and post widely on the issues concerning the LGBT community.
The spokesperson for the advocacy group, a rising high school senior, told Patch that demanding a formal apology instead of Omeish’s resignation was the PLP’s deliberate decision.