WATCH: School Board Meeting Derails When Angry Parents Accuse Student of Satanic ‘Hate Material’ Over Mural of Sunshine and Rainbows

Outraged parents railed against a mural painted by a Michigan high school student by claiming her inclusive pro-LGBT artwork was filled with symbols of “witchcraft” and propaganda.

Reports explain that the recent uproar surrounds a mural painted by high school sophomore Evelyn Gonzales. Gonzales won a contest to decorate Grant Middle School’s health center, so she painted a picture full of anthropomorphic animal doctors and children of different races gathering around the message “Stay Healthy.”

The mural featured a number of LGBTQ icons, for one of the children was wearing rainbow pride colors, and other children wore shirts with colors representing the transgender and bisexual pride flags. The piece was also adorned with an assortment of smaller symbols in the background. Some were obvious like the peace sign, animals, and a depiction of Hello Kitty. Others were more esoteric, and they drew angry complaints from parents during a school board meeting.

In the gathering, Gonzales’ mural was criticized for including the face of a demonic creature from the video game Genshin Impact. The mural was also called out for including a hamsa hand, a symbol with diverse meanings of good fortune to many different cultures.

ABC-affiliated local news station WZZM13 covered the board meeting where Gonzales explained the inclusion of the symbols, which weren’t part of her original art submission.

“I put my art up there to make people feel welcome,” she said in a shaky voice.
Gonzales explanation was not accepted by parents attending the meeting, who accused her of trying to cover for spreading anti-Christian messages.

“I feel like [she] did a really good job finding excuses to defend the things [she] put on,” one woman said. “None of us are that stupid.”

Another woman blasted the inclusion of the transgender flag colors by saying “When adults pretend things that are like real life, it’s a mental illness. We need counselors, we need medication that’s going to help bipolar disorder, fix their brains.”

One man called the mural “discrimination against Christian beliefs,” declaring “We and our administration should embrace that and get all of this hate material out of our schools. Because it is hate material.”

Not everyone was against the mural, however. A woman who described herself as a “conservative, right-wing, gun-loving American” denounced her fellow parents for their vitriolic remarks.

“I’ve never seen more bigoted people in my life,” she said. “We have an array of people in this little town. And I’ll be the first one to support our Christian families. But we’re not the only ones here.”

Watch above via WZZM13.