Catherine Pompey/NBC via GI
Miley Cyrus turned the other cheek in peace after her “Rainbowland” duet with godmother Dolly Parton was pulled from the spring concert lineup at Heyer Elementary School in Waukesha, Wisconsin. In a series of posts on Wednesday evening (March 29) from the singer Happy Hippie Foundation – A non-profit organization that supports the LGBTQ community and homeless youth – The group has announced that it is making a donation to a worthy cause in honor of Heyer’s students.
“To our inspiring first graders at Heyer Elementary, keep being you. We believe in our Happy Hippie heart that you will be the one who puts judgment and fear aside and makes us all more understanding and accepting,” read a tweet from the organization. A follow-up revealed that in honor of the “bright future” of the students, His Highness made a donation to the organisation. Pride and less prejudicewhich provides LGBTQ-inclusive books for Pre-K through 3rd grade to help students and teachers “Read Aloud, Read With Pride!”
Earlier this week, a language teacher at Heyer called out the school’s administration after “Rainbowland” was excluded from the spring ceremony after school leaders decided it “could be considered controversial.” and no longer spokespeople for the school and district paintingComment was requested at time of publication, but Waukesha principal James Seibert emailed a statement to Wisconsin Public Radio to which he said, “The question was whether the song was appropriate for the age and maturity level of the first graders.”
The Cyrus/Parton duo came out about accepting on Miley’s 2017 album younger now. “Living in the rainbow/Where you and I get along/Oh, I’d be lying if I said it’s alright/All the hurt and hate goes on here/We’re rainbows, you and I/Every color, every hue/Let’s shine through/Together, we can We start living in rainbows,” they sing on the song.
After “Rainbowland” was axed, the school’s music teacher replaced it with “Rainbow Connection”, which was also banned at first, but later accepted after the disapproval of the parents and the Waukesha Education Alliance. The language teacher who spoke about the song, Melissa Temple, told WPR that the district gave no specific reason for the ban, suggesting that the only common thread between “these two songs was the universal rainbow.”
In a third post, HH posted some words with the message, “When our founder @mileycyrus and her fairy godmother @dollyparton wrote those words together, they meant it.”
See Happy Hippie’s tweets below.
