Overview
- The Watertown, Wisconsin board, which voted Tuesday, said the instrumental work violated its controversial issues policy.
- Hundreds of students walked out Wednesday, chanting "Let them play" after the near-unanimous ban.
- The 2019 piece by composer Omar Thomas honors Marsha P. Johnson and the 1969 Stonewall Uprising and contains no lyrics.
- Band director Reid LaDew notified families in October under the policy and offered an opt-out that three students chose.
- Several members called the selection "indoctrination," prompting public criticism from students and the composer and drawing wider attention to school oversight of LGBTQ themes.