Wisconsin school bans Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus duet ‘Rainbowland’

Not even rainbow-themed songs are safe from the politicking running rampant through U.S. schools, it seems.

A Wisconsin school district removed the performance of Miley Cyrus’ 2017 song “Rainbowland”(Opens in a new tab) from a song list ahead of a first-grade concert last week, even though the song lacks any explicit content and reportedly was a favorite among students.

School District of Waukesha Superintendent Jim Sebert told local news station Fox 6(Opens in a new tab) that the district questioned “whether it was appropriate for the age and maturity level of the students” and the “social or personal impacts” on the children, and he cited a school board policy(Opens in a new tab) related to “controversial issues” in a classroom setting.

In a statement issued on March 24(Opens in a new tab), district leadership explained that the decision was made at the discretion of Heyer Elementary School’s music teacher, principal, and central office administrator, and later reviewed and supported by the district superintendent. The district clarified that the Board of Education was not involved.

Teachers like Melissa Tempel, a first-grade dual language teacher at Heyer Elementary School, told news outlets that there were rumors it was banned because the district believed Cyrus to be too “controversial” of a figure in the eyes of the public. But Tempel, who identifies as a teacher activist, also posted to Twitter that she believes it might have something more to do with the song’s lyrics.

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“Rainbowland,” a duet between Cyrus and her famous godmother Dolly Parton, tells a story about overcoming “hurt and hate” and celebrating life in shining color:

Oh, I’d be lying if I said this was fine
All the hurt and the hate going on here
We are rainbows, me and you
Every color, every hue
Let’s shine on through
Together, we can start living in a Rainbowland

Living in a Rainbowland
The skies are blue and things are grand
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

For years, Cyrus has made LGBTQ acceptance a central part of her celebrity image, through initiatives like her Happy Hippie Foundation(Opens in a new tab), which provides support to homeless and LGBTQ youth, support of The Foundation for AIDS Research(Opens in a new tab), and live LGBTQ events, like the Miley Cyrus Pride Special in 2021.

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Parton herself is a champion of children’s literacy and an iconic LGBTQ ally. In 1995, Parton founded the Imagination Library(Opens in a new tab), an unrestricted global initiative to provide free books to children from birth to age 5. In 2022, Parton released an anti-bullying children’s book, Billy The Kid Makes It Big(Opens in a new tab), and became one of many openly-accepting celebrities used as a symbol in the fight to protect LGBTQ communities(Opens in a new tab) in states like Tennessee(Opens in a new tab).

But it’s not just pop music that the school seems to be against. Tempel tweeted on March 22(Opens in a new tab) that the school had also banned the famous Kermit the Frog song “Rainbow Connection,” but a parent uproar reintroduced the song to the setlist. In its statement, the school district did not say the song was expressly banned and explained that the song was suggested as a replacement by the school’s music teacher.

Waukesha’s school district has been under fire before for anti-LGBTQ policies. Last year, teachers and community members under the group Alliance for Education in Waukesha started a petition(Opens in a new tab) in response to anti-diversity and inclusion actions that included banning welcoming and inclusive signage and “pausing” district equity work that was perceived as “controversial” and “political,” the petition reads. District parents have noticed a “conservative flip” among school leadership in recent years, Insider(Opens in a new tab) reported, which also reportedly included discouraging teachers from discussions of pronouns and the wearing of rainbow images.

Nationwide, politicians and school leaders are still attacking the inclusion of LGBTQ history and identity in schools, outlawing the public expression of drag, and blocking accessible healthcare for LGBTQ youth. In addition, book bans have steered toward the erasure of diverse media that include themes of gender and sexuality(Opens in a new tab), race(Opens in a new tab), and representation.

Ironically, in avoiding a potentially “controversial” song about happiness, hope, and rainbows, the School District of Waukesha found itself at the center of this ongoing educational controversy, a debate on schools’ roles in educating today’s youth.