When Steve Williams was mayor of Huntington, the pride flag flew from a City Hall flagpole during Pride Month, which is June. It probably wasnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t high on peopleÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s minds at election time, but when Patrick Farrell was elected mayor last year, one question was whether the pride flag would be displayed at City Hall this month.
As it turns out, itÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s not.
When a city official wrote a three-paragraph explanation on the cityÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s Facebook page, a torrent of comments followed. As of Wednesday afternoon, about 3,800 people had commented. Some vehemently criticized the decision, while others supported it. Commenting has since slowed down as everyone has said their piece.
The mayorÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s reasoning was simple and understandable: Flagpoles should be reserved for the national, state and city flags. I myself am OK with his decision. I canÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t remember when the pride flag was first flown at City Hall. And I canÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t recall if other flags, such as the POW/MIA flag or the Gadsden ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œDonÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t Tread on MeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ flag, had ever been flown there. The flags are part of the background that most of us donÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t notice until we look for them, like the architectural details of older downtown buildings.
Some people I work with would have preferred that City Hall continue to fly the pride flag. We had a long discussion about it this week, but it was a calm one. We didnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t call each other names for disagreeing, and as far as I know, weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re all still friends. Or at least we pretend to be.
The question of whether and how pride flags should be displayed in and at public buildings, including school classrooms, is one being dealt with in communities nationwide. Last year, 58% of people voting in Huntington Beach, California, approved a city charter amendment that prohibits nongovernmental flags from being flown at public buildings.
This week, the city council of Missoula, Montana, adopted a resolution designating the pride flag as the cityÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s only official flag. The councilÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s vote was in response to legislation signed into law by Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte last month that outlaws the display of flags on state property, including public schools, that represent political viewpoints, including sexual orientation. Some flags, such as the Gadsden flag, are exempted from the ban.
So there is no national consensus. Communities and states will need to work this out among themselves. Huntington is no exception.
Maybe the better way for Huntington to have removed the pride flag from the City Hall flagpole would have been to just not fly it this year and not say anything until people asked.
Thursday afternoon, I emailed Evan Lee, the cityÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s communications director, about the post and the reaction it received. I also asked if the mayor expects it to be a topic of conversation at MondayÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s City Council meeting. His response:
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œThe reaction wasnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t unexpected. An unfortunate feature of our politics today is that emotions can escalate quickly online, and people often say things on social media they wouldnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t say to a stranger at the grocery store. What we can control is how we communicate ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” openly and honestly ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” with the people we serve. ThatÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s why we took the transparent approach of sharing the reasoning behind the CityÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s display of the three official flags.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œCity Council is the right place for residents to share their views. WeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re committed to listening respectfully and hope the conversation reflects the respect every resident deserves. At the end of the day, weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ll stay focused on serving the entire community fairly and consistently.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
As elections move people in and out of office, things will change. What flags one mayor flies, the next may choose differently. As people say in Washington, D.C., elections have consequences.
