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'When will it end?': Wisconsin school teacher asks as Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus's 'Rainbowland' is banned from concert

Wisconsin teacher bashes authorities for banning Miley Cyrus' 'Rainbowland' from school concert

dWAUKESHA, WISCONSIN: An elementary school teacher from Waukesha, Wisconsin has lashed out at the school authorities for unceremoniously banning Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton’s fan favorite number ‘Rainbowland’ from the school concert. 

The Waukesha County Board of Education was criticized on Tuesday by Melissa Tempel, a dual language instructor at Heyer Elementary, for its decision to prohibit the songs "Rainbowland" by Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton's classic "Rainbow Connection" from The Muppet Movie.

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What really happened?

Tempel took to her Twitter account to vent out her frustration on the authority’s implied homophobia by banning the rainbow-themed songs from the elementary school’s spring festival. On March 22, the primary school teacher posted, “My first graders were so excited to sing Rainbowland for our spring concert but it has been vetoed by our administration. When will it end?” with a slew of tags to the singers. She attached the lyrics of ‘Rainbowland’ with the post.

On March 23, she made another post that said, "The song Rainbow Connection from the Muppet Movie has also been taken off our spring concert list now". While a user asked in the comment section of the previous post whether the reason was rainbows being linked with LGBTQ community, she replied, “Today they banned Rainbow Connection, so it seems the reason is rainbows”.

She later followed up the proceedings with another post, "Rainbow Connection was unbanned today after parents sent emails to admin. Alliance for Education in Waukesha knows how to ally. I don’t know where I’d be without them".

On March 26, she tried to explain the reason for the banning of the Miley Cyrus number by providing the lyrics with underlines in the portion she thought might have triggered the ban. Tempel wrote in the caption, "Why Rainbowland? My guess: The beautiful LYRICS. Because saying an ARTIST is controversial would be a very slippery slope and they wouldn’t want to go there. Amirite?" She highlighted the portion, "Wouldn't it be nice to live in paradise/ Where we're free to be exactly who we are/ Let's all dig down deep inside/ Brush the judgment and fear aside/ Make wrong things right/ And end the fight."

'This is absolutely absurd and so disappointing'

One user showed their displeasure on the incident by saying, "Seriously. What in the actual hell"? Another Twitter user commented, "Our kids deserve to dream of and sing about rainbows and unity. I just don’t understand why anyone, let alone public school administrators, would do this. They should be praising the song choices, not banning the songs". 

"We sang Rainbow Connection at a catholic grade school concert in the 80’s. Coloring rainbows is my granddaughters all time favorite thing. Anything even similar to rainbows is her favorite. What is happening? Never mind. It’s quite clear," mused a netizen. Another fan of the song says, "Rainbow Connection is in no way "controversial". This needs to stop". Another user asked with incredulity, "They banned a Muppets song?" Another fan criticized the authorities' move with sarcasm, "You know what's over that rainbow? Gays! Ahhhhhh!!!!!"

"This is a beautiful song about unity, and loving one another. Poor kids, just shameful," wrote one. Another LGBTQ proud father of four wrote, "They fear children being educated about diversity but what they are teaching is hate, which turns into something ugly and dangerous. Children are listening! A proud LGBTQ father of four. XO".

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.