{"id":154963,"date":"2023-04-03T23:12:58","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T23:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/culture.org\/?p=154963"},"modified":"2023-06-12T13:53:57","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T13:53:57","slug":"dolly-parton-and-miley-cyrus-song-rainbowland-banned-in-wisconsin-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/culture.org\/art-and-culture\/music\/dolly-parton-and-miley-cyrus-song-rainbowland-banned-in-wisconsin-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus&#8217; Song &#8220;Rainbowland&#8221; Banned in Wisconsin School"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">           <!--  <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n                jQuery(document).ready(function() {\r\n                    jQuery(\".key-accordion-item .key-menu\").on(\"click\", function() {\r\n                        if (jQuery(this).parent().hasClass(\"active\")) {\r\n                            jQuery(this).next().slideUp();\r\n                            jQuery(this).parent().removeClass(\"active\");\r\n                        } else {\r\n                            jQuery(\".key-content\").slideUp();\r\n                            jQuery(\".key-accordion-item\").removeClass(\"active\");\r\n                            jQuery(this).parent().addClass(\"active\");\r\n                            jQuery(this).next().slideDown();\r\n                        }\r\n                    });\r\n                })\r\n            <\/script> -->\r\n\r\n\r\n            <!-- start html -->\r\n\r\n            <div class=\"news-key-takeaway-wapper\">\r\n                                <span style=\"background-color:#4db2ee;\">Key Takeaways<\/span>\r\n                <ul class=\"news-key-nbox\" style=\"border-color:#4db2ee;background-color:rgba(77, 178, 238, 0.1);\">\r\n                                                        <li>Heyer Elementary School in Waukesha, Wisconsin bans first-grade class from performing \"Rainbowland\" by Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus due to controversial lyrics.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>Parents believe the ban is due to the song's promotion of LGBTQ acceptance and reference to rainbows.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>In response to the ban, Miley Cyrus' Happy Hippie Foundation donates to Pride and Less Prejudice, an organization providing LGBTQ-inclusive books to young students.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>The ban sparks conversation on LGBTQ+ inclusivity in schools, with dual language teacher Melissa Tempel raising concerns about its implications.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>The Waukesha Superintendent claims the ban is based on the song's appropriateness for the students' age and maturity level, but no specific reason is given.<\/li>\r\n                                                <\/ul>\r\n            <\/div>\r\n            <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A first-grade class at Heyer Elementary School in Waukesha, Wisconsin, has been prohibited from performing the song &#8220;Rainbowland&#8221; by Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus at an upcoming concert.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The School District of Waukesha County deemed the song&#8217;s lyrics controversial, potentially violating Board Policy 2240 &#8211; Controversial Issues in the Classroom.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Song Encourages LGBTQ Acceptance and References Rainbows<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Parents in the district believe the song was banned because it promotes LGBTQ acceptance and refers to rainbows.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The policy defines a controversial issue as a topic with opposing viewpoints, intense public argument or disapproval, and potential political, social, or personal impacts on students or the community.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead of &#8220;Rainbowland,&#8221; the first-grade students will perform &#8220;Rainbow Connection&#8221; by Kermit the Frog at the concert.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The event, themed &#8220;The World,&#8221; will also feature songs such as &#8220;Here Comes the Sun&#8221; by The Beatles and &#8220;What a Wonderful World&#8221; by Louis Armstrong.<\/span><\/p>\n                        <!-- <div class=\"container-c\"> -->\r\n                        <!-- <div class=\"row justify-content-between\"> -->\r\n                        <!-- <div class=\"col-post-800\"> -->\r\n                        <!-- start html -->\r\n                        <div class=\"blockquote-wapper\">\r\n                            <div>\r\n                                <span class=\"text_quot\">\r\n                                    <p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Waukesha Superintendent, James Sebert, stated that the question revolved around whether the song was appropriate for the age and maturity level of the first-grade students. <\/span><\/p>\n                                <\/span>\r\n\r\n                                <div class=\"quot_icon\">\r\n                                    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-content\/themes\/culture\/icons\/i_quot.svg\" type=\"image\/svg+xml\">\r\n                                <\/div>\r\n                            <\/div>\r\n\r\n                            <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"quot_tick\" src=\"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-content\/themes\/culture\/icons\/i_quot_tri.svg\" type=\"image\/svg+xml\">\r\n                        <\/div>\r\n                        <!-- end html -->\r\n                        <!-- <\/div> -->\r\n                        <!-- <\/div> -->\r\n                        <!-- <\/div> -->\r\n                                    \n<h2><strong>Miley Cyrus&#8217; Happy Hippie Foundation Supports Students<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In response to the song&#8217;s removal, Miley Cyrus&#8217; Happy Hippie Foundation, a nonprofit supporting the LGBTQ community and homeless youth, made a donation to Pride and Less Prejudice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This organization provides LGBTQ-inclusive books to pre-K through third-grade classrooms. The foundation expressed its support for the Heyer Elementary first-grade students, encouraging them to continue being themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Controversy Sparks Conversation on LGBTQ+ Inclusivity<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Melissa Tempel, a dual language teacher at Heyer Elementary, brought attention to the issue by calling out the school district on Twitter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She chose the original song due to its universal message and shared her students&#8217; disappointment when it was vetoed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tempel also expressed concern for what such bans mean for the LGBTQ+ community and inclusivity in schools.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Waukesha Superintendent, James Sebert, stated that the question revolved around whether the song was appropriate for the age and maturity level of the first-grade students.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, Melissa Tempel pointed out that no specific reason for the ban was provided by the district, with the only common thread between the initially banned &#8220;Rainbow Connection&#8221; and &#8220;Rainbowland&#8221; being the word &#8220;rainbow.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ban has sparked conversations around inclusivity and acceptance in schools, with support from Miley Cyrus&#8217; Happy Hippie Foundation highlighting the broader implications of such decisions.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":154964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[410,398],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-154963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-and-culture","category-music"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154963"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}