Judge rules school district was within its rights to remove Ohio teacher’s LGBTQ+ pride poster
‘Hate Has No Home Here’ poster (YELLOWBIRD ART & DESIGN Store)
A federal judge has ruled against Ohio teacher George McIntyre, finding his First Amendment rights were not violated when his school district ordered him to remove a “Hate Has No Home Here” poster featuring an LGBTQ+ pride flag from his classroom.
In the Nov. 9 court decision, US District Judge Matthew W. McFarland sided with the Little Miami School District and school board president David Wallace.
McFarland’s decision turned on whether McIntyre was speaking as a private citizen or in his role at school. The judge found the classroom display amounted to speech “as a government employee”, meaning the board was entitled to restrict it.
“McIntyre’s authority to shape his classroom environment remained subject to the Board’s oversight,” McFarland wrote. “That oversight reflects the allocation of educational decisions to elected school boards, which are accountable to the public for the choices made on their behalf.”
Disputes over Pride flags and LGBTQ+ inclusive messaging in classrooms have become a recurring flashpoint in US school board politics, with supporters often framing such displays as anti-bullying signals and opponents treating them as political or sexuality-related content.
Why did Little Miami remove the ‘Hate Has No Home Here’ poster?
The Little Miami school board voted 4-1 on 25 February 2026 to remove the poster from McIntyre’s classroom.
In the design, hands were shown holding heart-shaped flags, such as the American flag, a peace sign flag, the LGBTQ+ pride flag and the transgender pride flag.
The district said the display violated a policy against content “relating to sexual orientation or gender identity”. Little Miami adopted the policy in October 2025 to adhere to Ohio House Bill 8, dubbed the “Parents’ Bill of Rights”, which requires schools to notify parents of “instructional materials with sexuality content”.
Wallace said during the February vote that removing the poster avoided “logistical challenges” associated with notifying parents.
What McIntyre’s lawyer said about the ruling
McIntyre’s attorney Josh Engel criticised the decision to target the classroom display, saying: “A teacher hung a flag in his classroom for four years saying every student deserves to be treated with respect – and nobody had a problem with it until some school board members decided to make it one.”
Court records also said Wallace visited McIntyre’s classroom in fall 2025 and took photos of the poster.
A similar First Amendment dispute played out in 2024, when a federal judge ruled a straight, cisgender principal in Minnesota was not protected under the First Amendment after LGBTQ+ advocacy in school.
