Michigan parents call middle school student’s mural Satanic, anti-Christian

Parents in a Michigan school district are furious over what they see as Satanic and anti-Christian propaganda in a high schooler’s mural.

The mural, featured on the wall of an adolescent health center in Grant Middle School in Grant, Michigan, features characters smiling and posing and anthropomorphized animals wearing nurse scrubs and holding bandages and needles.

One of the featured characters wears a shirt with the colors of the transgender pride flag, and another wears overalls featuring a rainbow.

During a school board meeting, many parents shared their fury over what they saw as LGBTQ propaganda.

“When adults pretend things like [they are] real life, it’s a mental illness. We need counselors. We need medication that’s going to help bipolar disorder. Fix their brains,” one woman told the school board about transgenderism.

The artist included in the mural several line drawings that seemed to be the biggest part of the discussion, with many parents categorizing the symbols as anti-Christian.

Among the symbols that drew the ire of the parents were a mask that parents said represents Satan, and a Hamsa hand, a symbol of the Hand of God in many Middle Eastern cultures.

Parents claimed that the student intentionally subverted the original message of the mural to discriminate against Christians, saying that the symbols should be counted as “hate material.”

While on the verge of tears, student Evelyn Gonzales told parents that the mask comes from a video game and that the Hamsa hand was intended as a symbol of protection.

“I put my artwork up there to make people feel welcomed,” Miss Gonzales explained. “That’s not what I’m part of. That’s not what I’m trying to put out there.”

Parents seemed to not believe her explanations, with one saying that “we are not that stupid.”

Ms. Gonzales reportedly left the meeting in tears.

Fellow student Liam Higgins, whom a report on Grand Rapids ABC affiliate WZZM identified as queer, supported the mural, saying it felt inclusive and welcoming.

One mother at the meeting, who described herself as a gun-loving Christian conservative, also accused the larger crowd of parents against the mural of being bigots.

The school district announced, according to National Public Radio, that the mural would be edited to remove all the line drawings, which were not in the original design submitted by the student artist.

“At Grant Public Schools, we are committed to promoting civility, respect, understanding and inclusion. We do not condone, and we will not tolerate discrimination, harassment or bullying whether in word, deed or on social media,” a statement by the Grant school district reads.