This is ridiculous. I worked at a school and we will have a number of assemblies throughout the year. Just because you don't agree with the speaker is not a valid reason to not go to the assembly. what a bunch of wusses. I am a Christian, we have had speakers who were BLM, we had Jews, Muslims, and a variety of speakers pushing critical race theory. Never once did I stand up like some kind of wimp and say I want to go back to my room, I don't agree with this. That is what education is all about, ask questions, see through the hypocrisy.
This is a bogus story. Can you imagine them getting upset that someone from BLM spoke? How about some guy who was in a prison ministry run by Muslims? How about a Jewish lady who was in the Holocaust.
Some students at the school invited the speaker, they came and they had an assembly. This happens all the time. It isn't part of the curriculum. Also, if a kid says I want to go back to the room then you need a teacher to go with them. If the school really made this optional they would have opened the gym for all the kids who didn't want to go and had a gym teacher or two there to supervise. However, it is a bad practice as there are kids who will choose the gym over any and all activities.
Schools want kids to take initiative, invite speakers and as long as they aren't dangerous it creates a good environment where kids get to express what they are interested in. Did you ever see the film about the guy who climbs mountains without a rope? In that movie he went to his high school and was a speaker. Most schools would not want him as that would possibly encourage other students to do that, however since he went to that school it shows where alumni have gone on to do,