A Southern California educator has been removed from her post after a social-media video showed her tossing the American flag aside and encouraging students to honor a Pride banner instead—an act critics say mocked the nation’s most recognizable symbol.
In the now-deleted TikTok clip, the smiling teacher, Kristin Pitzen, admits she yanked the Stars and Stripes off her classroom wall because it made her feel “uncomfortable,” a confession delivered between nervous giggles to her phone’s front camera.
She then tells followers that her pupils recite the Pledge of Allegiance each morning—only now they’re invited to face a small rainbow Pride flag hanging by the whiteboard, a move that instantly drew parental fury for “teaching kids to disrespect” Old Glory.
Pitzen, who taught in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, had originally justified the missing U.S. flag by saying she “packed it away” and couldn’t remember where she put it—an explanation she whispered playfully as though sharing an inside joke.
During daily announcements, she reportedly lets students decide whether to stand, sit, or speak the pledge at all—telling them, “Do it if you feel like it.” The absence of the flag, she admitted, left one boy unsure where to look while reciting the words.
Attempting to help, Pitzen pointed across the room: “We do have a flag you can pledge allegiance to.” The boy’s eyes settled on the colorful Pride banner fluttering near a bulletin board—an image she showcased with unrestrained laughter in the video.
It wasn’t Pitzen’s first display of LGBTQ+ advocacy. In an earlier Pride-Month tour of her classroom, she panned across shelves lined with miniature rainbow flags before declaring, “I pledge allegiance to the queers,” assuring students they were “loved and enough.”
@deletedvideos09 Teacher mocks the American Flag and suggests to students they can say the Pledge of Allegiance to the pride flag
The community did not share her amusement. Outraged parents packed a subsequent school-board meeting, some clutching small American flags while demanding respect for the symbol their children pledge to each morning.
Outside the campus, families staged their own protest: hundreds of Stars and Stripes sprouted across the lawn as a show of patriotism. One mother, whose son serves in the military, said she hoped the teacher would “learn the importance” of the flag’s history.
Online, commenters were equally scathing—reminding Pitzen that the flag represents sacrifices that secure her freedom to teach. Some even suggested she “try living in Afghanistan” before dismissing America’s symbols.
The viral clip first surfaced in 2021; today, district officials confirm Pitzen is “no longer in the classroom” while an investigation continues. The episode has reignited debate over patriotism, free expression, and how far educators should go in promoting inclusivity.
