Wisconsin school tries to hide rainbow, bans kids from singing Miley Cyrus’ “Rainbowland”

First graders at Heyer Elementary School in Waukesha, Wisconsin, will not be allowed to sing the song “Rainbowland” by Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton, which talks about acceptance, at their spring concert because the management considers it controversial.

“The Waukesha School District has really cracked down on anything LBGTQ,” Sarah Schindler, whose daughter is a first grader at Heyer Elementary, told the Los Angeles Times.

The problem with the song of Miley Cyrus

The lyrics to “Rainbowland” include the lines: “Wouldn’t it be nice to live in paradise / Where we’re free to be exactly who we are?” and “Let’s all dig deep within / push away judgment and fear.”

The song is known for being an anthem of inclusion and celebration of diversity and has been used in events and campaigns to support the LGBTQ+ community.

“It’s very sad that the Waukesha school district considers it a ‘hot topic.’ It’s a song about a beautiful place of acceptance,” Schindler said.

Is the school policy homophobic?

According to Schindler, the school board has taken “a conservative turn” in recent years in the wake of community uproar over COVID-19 mitigation strategies. This was the cause of several controversies at the school, Schindler said, giving a few examples:

• The school board created “a hot topic policy that says teachers can’t have any kind of signage that could be considered political.”
• Also the discussion of pronouns with students.
• Teachers are not allowed to bring rainbows to school.

Schindler said he’s aware that Cyrus has a controversial past for “talking about drug use, and sexuality, and all of that.” Just as Parton supports drag queens, another controversial issue in the country at the moment, more after the restriction of drag queen shows in Tennessee.

Songs about rainbows are prohibited

“Rainbowland” is not the only song banned from the children’s repertoire. This also included Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” and Kermit the Frog’s “Rainbow Connection” from “The Muppet Movie.” The school also banned the Kermit the Frog song because it includes rainbows.

Schindler contacted his daughter’s teacher, the principal of Heyer Elementary School, and the superintendent of the Waukesha school district to ask why the song had been withdrawn, and was informed that it had been deemed too controversial.

Melissa Tempel, dual language teacher at Heyer Elementary, reported last week to the Waukesha County School District for the decision to ban the songs. Tempel said that despite being told the song was banned because Cyrus, 30, “is controversial,” he “felt for sure” that the song The decision had to do with Parton’s popularity among drag queens and the LGBTQ community.