SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A conservative member of Utah’s board of education who criticized the use of a gay pride flag in a social media post is under investigation.
The Utah State Board of Education said in a statement released Tuesday that Natalie Cline’s post does not represent the school board and that it is reviewing the post for potential violations.
Cline shared a photo on Facebook this week of a gay pride flag in a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints seminary building with a message welcoming members of the LGBTQ community to the seminary.
Cline then wrote: “Time to make some phone calls. The world is too much with us.”
Cline told the Standard-Examiner that she is in favor of welcoming “all students” but said that the seminary message welcoming the LGBTQ community could exclude others.
Troy Williams, executive director of the group Equality Utah, condemned Cline’s comments and criticized her for an “ongoing obsession with LGBTQ youth.”
“She has been leading a one-woman crusade against our community ever since she was elected to the Utah State Board of Education,” Williams said in a statement. “Her dangerous rhetoric continues to incite hysteria and moral panic among Utah parents.”
Cline’s post came shortly after Jeffrey Holland, a top leader for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, called on church-owned Brigham Young University to uphold its commitment to the faith’s fundamental teachings, including its stance against same-sex marriage.
