Especially within the context of the horrific murders in Orlando on Sunday morning, advocacy for tolerance of all individuals regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation is more important than ever. One 7^th grade student at Seneca Ridge Middle School, Ella Pafumi, attempted to be at the forefront of that movement.

Pafumi organized a ‘Rainbow Acceptance Day’ for Friday, June 10, wherein Seneca Ridge students would dress in tie-dye and wear rainbow ribbon pins in support of acceptance of all people, regardless of their race or sexual orientation. Along with a teacher sponsor, Ms. Boehl, Pafumi crafted 200 rainbow ribbons and posted signs advertising the day in the Seneca Ridge hallways. Along with promotions on social media, Rainbow Acceptance Day promised to be a success.

Unfortunately, all Seneca Ridge students did not share Pafumi’s enthusiasm. Ella and her friends promoting the event became subject to teasing by classmates, and students averse to the day’s existence began complaining to their parents about the day’s proceedings.

A series of parent complaints about the LGBT connotation of the celebration prompted the Seneca Ridge administration to modify the day’s proceedings—which, according to Eli Pafumi, were “meant to be for an overall acceptance day, not just for LGBT issues”—to the point where they were nearly unrecognizable.

Rainbow Acceptance Day was renamed Multicolor Kindness Day, and the Seneca Ridge administration insisted that it be promoted as an anti-bullying event. Additionally, Pafumi was denied access to the 200 ribbons she had made for the cause, as they were deemed too obvious a reference to LGBT issues.

LCPS School Board officials insist that they had nothing to do with the modification of the Rainbow Acceptance Day. “The Seneca Ridge staff put this together, and it was marketed very last-minute,” says Debbie Rose, a School Board member and parent of a Seneca Ridge student. “It was portrayed in a manner that conveyed rainbow-themed messaging, which is representative of gay pride… I don’t think it was well-thought out or well-explained.”

Brenda Sheridan, the Vice Chairwoman and Sterling District representative on the School Board, conferred that the School Board had not “formally” discussed the Rainbow Acceptance Day but that she personally “[has] no objection to a day or activity that promotes acceptance, respect, and tolerance for others.”

In recognition of the injustice implicit in Seneca Ridge’s barring of what was meant to be merely a celebration of all people, Ella’s brother Eli stepped in. Eli, an 11^th grader at Dominion, told his sister he’d bring Rainbow Acceptance Day to Dominion if it couldn’t be held at Seneca Ridge. “It’s all her day,” Pafumi said, “but I wanted to do whatever I could to help her out.”

Pafumi, like his sister, posted on social media asking students to wear tie-dye and rainbow ribbons on June 10^th. As the event was informally organized at DHS, there was no stopping the spread of rainbow color throughout Dominion’s hallways. The 200 ribbons Ella Pafumi had made for the Rainbow Acceptance Day at Seneca Ridge were bought back from the SRMS administration, and Eli and a group of supporters handed them out to eager Titans. Dominion students posted photos on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #RainbowAcceptanceDay in hopes of making the event more public.

Ella Pafumi’s initiative to promote tolerance even in the face of teasing by classmates is by any measure incredible and beyond her years. Seneca Ridge’s insistence upon toning down that message, conversely, is concerning. What message does the effective mutilation of a day meant to celebrate the acceptance of everyone regardless of their race, gender, or sexual orientation send to middle-school students?

“It sends the message that we will only accept what we’re comfortable with and nothing more,” Eli Pafumi said. “Ella was just trying to promote equity and create a dynamic and unified student body. Limiting this day says the adverse, and says that not all are accepted.”

Additionally, Rose believes that the Seneca Ridge administration should have contacted the School Board before organizing the day, though she acknowledged that “internal conversations” between Seneca Ridge principal Mark McDermott and LCPS administration had taken place before the day was renamed.