Colorado State Rep. Brandi Bradley (R- Littleton) confronted her son’s high school teacher for allegedly teaching her child that the Mona Lisa was a self-portrait created by the “gender-fluid” Leonardo da Vinci.
“My 15-year-old’s HISTORY teacher told her students that Leonardo DaVinci was gender fluid and that the Mona Lisa was a depiction of his feminine side.” the politician claimed to her X followers on Aug. 21.
“WTAH????? And tonight is back to school night and she has no idea what kind of mama bear is coming for her,” Bradley added.
The furious mother attended the beginning of the year event where she approached the teacher and asked why the class was watching a movie that featured scholars claiming da Vinci was “probably gay or whatever.”
“One of the kids in the other class asked me what that meant, and so with bringing it up to the class the picture (the Mona Lisa) was a self-portrait, according to some scholars,” the educator said according to an audio recording shared by Bradley..
The educator said the discussion was to show the difference between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance where the latter period was about “self-expression” and freedom from the Church.
“They had the opportunity to create however they wanted and express themselves fully,” she said.
An unknown man jumped into the conversation to tell the teacher that the Mona Lisa was an actual person, Lisa del Giocondo, who historians believed was the subject of da Vinci’s world-famous portrait in the early 16th century.
The history teacher countered the claim calling it an “argument.”
“I think the recent works are showing and it’s supposed to be like the lore, but the recent scholars are saying that it was most likely a self-portrait and they have actual pictures of him and they can go behind the things to see the structure of the skin, the eyes and actual features now.”
Bradley asked to see which videos were approved for the class to watch as she was concerned with some of the subject material being taught to her son.
“I don’t know that I want my 15-year-old knowing what gender fluidity is,” she said before sharing that her family has a “very biblical worldview” and was seeing a lot of LGBTQ flags in the classroom.
“I wonder how inclusive my Christian conservative child feels in this room,” Bradley said.
“I’m having a hard time of walking into a room and seeing LGBTQ everywhere and wondering you know gender fluidity and seeing a depiction of a man and hearing that it’s a depiction of him as a woman,” Bradley expressed to the teacher.
The educator argued that the politician’s views of the situation weren’t correct and that the videos were explaining how people have a “more masculine and feminine side.”
“This is a self-portrait of him and how he perceived himself,” the teacher remarked about da Vinci.
“I’ve never in my life heard that story, and I’ve spoken to world scholars in history,” Bradley said. “I’m a little concerned that this is the first week of school and this is world history and what’s gonna be taught to my child.”
“As a parent I have that ability to question that and can we do it respectfully without sending an email and without any other parents around.”
Bradley, who was first elected to represent Colorado’s District 39 in 2022, won her primary race in June and will face off against Democrat Eric Brody in the Nov. 5 General Election.
