Idaho’s attorney general has ruled that the “Everyone is Welcome Here” signs that stirred up controversy for “inadvertently” sparking division must be removed from every public school in the state.
A legal opinion was released on Friday by Attorney General Raúl Labrador’s office that officially banned signs like the one Lewis and Clark Middle School teacher Sarah Inama displayed in her classroom in February.
The AG’s office found that banners like Inama’s, which read “Everyone is Welcome Here,” violates the state’s vague House Bill 41 prohibiting flags or banners alluding to or depicting any political viewpoint in public schools.
“These signs are part of an ideological/social movement which started in Twin Cities, Minnesota following the 2016 election of Donald Trump. Since that time, the signs have been used by the Democratic party as a political statement. The Idaho Democratic Party even sells these signs as part of its fundraising efforts,” the office’s statement said.
Inama made headlines last winter when the West Ada School District ordered her to remove her “Everyone is Welcome Here” sign featuring cartoon hands in various skin tones.
Inama originally took the poster down, but had a change of heart and put it back up over the weekend.
The district administration asserted that Inama needed to take it down because the message “is not something that everybody believes,” she told KTVB.
According to emails from the district obtained by the Idaho Statesman, the district took issue with the different skin-toned hands, which apparently violated the state’s requirement that all displayed content be “neutral and conducive to a positive learning environment.”
The Idaho Democratic Party started to sell the merchandise inspired by the posters on March 25 “after hearing from Idahoans who wanted a way to show support for Ms. Inama,” the party’s communications director Avery Roberts wrote in an email to The Post.
“Across the state, parents and teachers, regardless of their political affiliations, want children to have a fair shot. They’re working hard to build strong public schools where every student feels welcome and has the support they need to succeed,” Roberts wrote.
“We’re not doing this to make money. The signs and stickers barely cover costs. What matters is the message. Taking a stand against discrimination shouldn’t be a partisan issue, and we hope leaders in every party see it that way.”
The office’s opinion goes on to note that Inama began displaying the signs in her classroom shortly after Trump’s first term in 2017 and accused her of hanging it to “share her personal, ideological beliefs.”
Per the office’s opinion, certain types of student artwork could also be prohibited from being hung in schools.
