ROSENBERG, Texas — A Facebook post by a Lamar Consolidated ISD board member has people in the community talking and led to a response from the district.
Board member Jon Welch posted on June 1 that he’s celebrating the relationships between males and females all month. Though he didn’t say anything about the LGBTQ+ community in his post, it went up on Thursday -- the first day of Pride Month.
In his post, Welch invited people to send him their couple photos throughout the month and he said he’d put them up on his Facebook page. He finished his post by saying, "Happy June to you."
The next day, the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District posted a letter on its Facebook page from board president Mandi Bronsell. Without naming Welch, the letter said, “A member of our school board made some recent remarks on social media that have sparked concern and conversation within our community. I want to be clear that the spirit and intent of the message do not reflect the collective view of the Lamar CISD Board of Trustees.”
It went on to say, "...words matter, and they should be used to encourage us in humility and service to all of our families and servants."
Both messages generated hundreds of comments. By Monday afternoon at 6:30, Welch’s had more than 1,200 comments, many as posts of rainbows GIFS and of support of the LGBTQ+ community.
Welch declined an interview request but sent this statement. "I have no comment on the Board president's statement. Also, I stand by my post, celebrating heterosexual relationships that are ignored by corporate America and celebrities during June, a traditional month for weddings and bridal showers. It's a PRO statement, not anti.”
We also reached out to the district, but have yet to hear back.
Welch has been on the Lamar Consolidated ISD board since 2019 but has lived in the Lamar CISD since 2008.
You can read the posts from Welch and Lamar Consolidated ISD below.