This is an example where the espoused ideology (tolerance) of progressives run exactly counter to their intolerant action.   [*note* – Asheville N.C. is a liberal island in a generally conservative geography]   

Progs love to use the weapon of “bullying” to advance their social constructs especially around sexual orientation.  Gay becomes hip/cool and is warmly trumpeted in almost every school district.   Around the forced social engineering ‘race’ is another favorite for them to play with, and you’ll find numerous examples of teenage girls being told to “kiss a black boy to prove you are not racist”.    It’s a social meme advanced in the school systems that have evolved to become indoctrination camps. 
But look at how they approach a ‘straight kid’ who just happens to like My Little Pony.  Would they ask a girl student to leave her lunchbox at home?  Of course not.  Such is the pretzellian logic of the progs.  They’ll tell YOU when equality is permissible.

HatTip Chip Bennett – [BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C. (WRIC)]— A North Carolina mother whose son has been bullied for bringing a “My Little Pony” bag to class says school officials now won’t let him bring the bag to school.

Grayson Bruce is a big fan of “My Little Pony,” a cartoon that emphasizes to children that “friendship is magic.” But his interest has caused the 9-year-old to be bullied at school; his classmates say his favorite toy is for girls.
“They’re taking it a little too far, with punching me, pushing me down, calling me horrible names, stuff that really shouldn’t happen,” Bruce told WLOS News13, an ABC affiliate in Asheville, N.C. “Most of the characters in the show are girls, and most of the people put it toward girls, most of the toys are girlie.”
Noreen Bruce supports her son’s love of the show saying, “It’s promoting friendship, there [are] no bad words, there’s no violence; it’s hard to find that, even in cartoons now.”
Grayson even has his own following on Facebook, after a friend created a support page for him. Profile pictures of a gray pony with glasses and the message “<3 for Grayson” are circulating on Facebook.
Last week, Grayson’s school asked him to leave his Rainbow Dash bag at home, because officials felt it was a distraction and a “trigger for bullying.”
Noreen Bruce disagrees with the school’s request and wants her son’s bullies to be punished for their actions.
Saying a lunchbox is a trigger for bullying is like saying a short skirt is a trigger for rape,” she said. “It’s flawed logic; it doesn’t make any sense.”
Buncombe County Schools declined an interview with WLOS News13 but said in a statement, “an initial step was taken to immediately address a situation that had created a disruption in the classroom. Buncombe County Schools takes bullying very seriously, and we will continue to take steps to resolve this issue.”
Grayson Bruce isn’t the only North Carolina “Brony”—a popular term used to describe male “My Little Pony” fans—to make headlines for being bullied about his interest in the show. In January, 11-year-old Michael Morones, of Wake County, tried to commit suicide because he was tormented at school for his love of “My Little Pony.” Morones hung himself off the side of his bunk bed.
“Eleven to 15-year-old boys are very much at risk for thinking about suicide when they’re perceived as being gay,” bullying prevention expert Nancy Mullin told WTVD.  (read more with video report)