Pride Flags Removed from LGBTQ-Friendly Catholic High School
After the Diocese of Oakland required their removal, Bishop O'Dowd adopted a rainbow-colored "inclusive O" as a new symbol of belonging.
Bishop O’Dowd High School, a 75-year-old Catholic college-preparatory school in East Oakland, California, has adopted a new rainbow logo after the Diocese of Oakland forced it to remove LGBTQ Pride flags from classrooms before the start of the school year.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland asked O’Dowd administrators last winter to remove the school’s rainbow and transgender Pride flags, an employee told The Oaklandside. The flags were taken down on June 1, 2026 without any formal communication to students or families, although staff marked their removal with a ceremony, according to the employee. At least one of the flags had hung in a classroom for more than 30 years.
The employee told the newspaper that administrators and teachers had pushed back against the conservative-leaning diocese for years. Ultimately, however, O’Dowd is a diocesan school and answers to the diocese and Bishop Michael Barber. Barber is a member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine, which authored guidance rejecting the idea that a person can be transgender and maintaining that sex is binary and cannot be changed.
In an August 13 statement to parents, O’Dowd President Kim Walsh said the Pride flags had become a “lightning rod within our own community” and that the school did not want a “symbol to become the source of division that diminished our ability to care for students.”
As a compromise, faculty, staff, counselors, parents, Board of Regents members, LGBTQ advocates, and student leaders approved a new symbol known as the “inclusive O.” Featuring the colors of the Progress Pride flag inside the letter “O,” the symbol is intended to represent the school’s LGBTQ community and “affirm that our LGBTQ+ students, families, faculty, and staff are seen, known, loved, and belong here.”
The school promoted the “inclusive O” on Instagram: “Everyone fits in the O. Seen. Known. Loved. That’s belonging.”
The “inclusive O” is now displayed throughout the campus. Outside the school’s front entrance, it appears alongside several smaller “O” symbols representing different affinity groups, all contained within a larger yellow “O.”
Walsh also told parents that the school’s Pride Arts Club and Inclusive Family Day will continue and that the school is creating an LGBTQ family retreat and an inclusive advisory council to help LGBTQ community members feel represented.
The O’Dowd employee told The Oaklandside that students had not openly protested the removal of the Pride flags during the first few days of school. Some alumni, however, expressed disappointment with the school on social media.
Commenting on an Instagram post shared by the school, one follower wrote: “This is a cop out until the rainbow O is included as an option on uniform polos.”
Another commenter, Octavio Sandoval, who identified himself as an O’Dowd alumnus, called the compromise a “disappointing step backward for inclusion and belonging.”
“Deciding to ban or prohibit the display of Pride flags at Bishop O’Dowd High School is a deeply regressive move that flies in the face of the school’s core values,” Sandoval wrote. “For years, O’Dowd has prided itself on fostering a culture of equity, compassion, and community. Erasing symbols of visibility for LGBTQ+ students, faculty, and staff actively damages that mission.”
Sandoval also argued that removing the Pride flags sends a harmful message to LGBTQ students and those questioning their gender identity or sexual orientation. He said the school had also undermined community trust by failing to seek input from parents, teachers, and students before removing the flags.
“Inclusion isn’t just a buzzword to put on a brochure; it requires actual visibility and protection for marginalized groups,” Sandoval concluded. “By yielding to this policy, the administration is failing its students. Do better.”
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