Photo Credit: Raph_PH / CC by 2.0
Miley Cyrus’ Happy Hippie Foundation issues a statement following the ‘Rainbowland’ controversy at a Waukesha, Wisconsin elementary school.
After Miley Cyrus’ “Rainbowland” duet with her godmother Dolly Parton was removed from the spring concert lineup at Heyer Elementary School in Waukesha, Wisconsin, the singer was seemingly quiet. But on Wednesday, Miley’s Happy Hippie Foundation, a non-profit that supports homeless youth and the LGBTQ+ community, announced they are donating to a worthy cause in the Heyer students’ honor.
“To the inspiring first-grade students at Heyer Elementary, keep being YOU. We believe in our Happy Hippie heart that you’ll be the ones to brush the judgment and fear aside and make all of us more understanding and accepting,” tweeted Happy Hippie.
A follow-up tweet announced that HH had donated to Pride and Less Prejudice, an organization that provides LGBTQ-inclusive books to pre-K through third-grade classrooms to help students and teachers “read out loud, read out proud.”
Melissa Tempel, a language teacher at Heyer Elementary, called out the school’s administration earlier this week after “Rainbowland” was reportedly removed from the spring concert when those in charge determined it “could be deemed controversial.”
“The question was around whether the song was appropriate for the age and maturity level of the first-grade students,” Waukesha Superintendent James Sebert told Wisconsin Public Radio.
Happy Hippie posted some of the lyrics of “Rainbowland” along with the message, “When our founder Miley Cyrus and her fairy godmother Dolly Parton wrote these words together, they meant it.”
The Cyrus-Parton duet appeared on Miley’s 2017 album Younger Now. The song about acceptance includes the lyrics, “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.”
After “Rainbowland” was removed from the spring concert, the school’s music teacher wanted to replace it with “The Rainbow Connection” by The Muppets — a song that was also initially banned. However, the school accepted the proposed replacement after pushback from parents and Waukesha’s Alliance for Education.