Broward County School Board member Sarah Leonardi is under fire after she hosted a field trip for children at a popular gay bar in Florida. Pictures of the excursion were found on social media, garnering intense backlash from parents and concerned Americans.
"I was SO honored to be invited to chaperone Wilton Manors Elementary's field trip to the incredible Rosie's! The students and I had a fun walk over and learned a lot about our community!" Leonardi captioned her post on her official school board Facebook page on Wednesday. "A huge thank you to Rosie's Bar and Grill for hosting this special field trip every year!"
Parents took issue not only in the fact that children were knowingly taken to a gay bar, but that the field trip occurred every year, which meant this may not have been the first time children were exposed to the gay bar. According to Fox News, the social media post by Leonardi showed children in the popular gay bar in Florida called Rosie's Bar and Grill, as well as a photo of the group posing next to the restaurant's sign.
Screenshots of her social media post then began circulating on social media, sparking outrage over the school and the school board for allowing such a thing to occur.
A screenshot from a private Facebook group called Moms for Liberty - Broward County, Fl, showed one person writing, "School board member Sarah Leonardi accompanied Wilton Manors Elementary school on a field trip to a LGBT bar which features menu items like: The Big Girl Burgers, Rhoda Cowboy, Ivana Hooker, Hellena Bun, Georgia Bleu, Young ranch hand, Willy cheesesteak."
The Florida gay bar describes itself as "a tropical oasis in the middle of the Island City, Wilton Manors" and has since 2006 offered "amazing food and refreshing drinks and sassy fun." It also said it welcomes both LGBT and "allies" and showcases "the most talented crew in South Florida," as per its website.
Red State argued that "the outrage is warranted" because regardless if it was a gay bar or a regular bar, Leonardi "took these small children to was a bar, a place where children have no business being in the first place." Leonardi was blasted for using the gay bar as an excuse to teach "tolerance" or "acceptance" among children because the Florida school board member could have easily chosen to bring them to a museum or natural park. Instead, the young kids were "taken to a place where the focus is intimate or sexual relationships between two same-sex people."
The Daily Caller reported that Florida's official tourism marketing company has mentioned sources calling Wilton Manors the state's "most famous gayborhood."
A commenter by the name of Ryan Kling questioned the purpose of a field trip to a gay bar, writing, "Usually there is a teachable purpose, one that goes through the school district for approval, behind authorizing a field trip. It would be interesting to see what the follow up would be for this field trip, did the students need to write up an essay about this location?"
One commenter by the name of BigMike2024 replied, writing, "The point of the field trip was to indoctrinate children into a degenerate lifestyle and humiliate the parents who will refuse to punish these insane and openly subversive public officials."
