Darien, Connecticut’s select board last night debated banning all flags except their own town’s, the state’s and the Stars and Stripes from all municipal properties, except schools. The reasoning behind such a move, say local leaders, appears to homo/transphobia. (Update: the board unanimously chose to table the discussion after a large turnout decried the proposed policy.)
“We all know that this is about the Pride flag,” State Sen. Bob Duff, whose district includes part of Darien, told the New Haven Register. “The governing majority in Darien … is bear-hugging these ultra-conservative decisions that we’re seeing in Washington.”
Reports the Register:
Under the measure, only the flags of the United States, the state of Connecticut and the town of Darien could hoist for display on or over town-owned buildings and property, such as town hall and the beaches. That would exclude flags of other nations such as Ukraine, the POW-MIA flag honoring veterans, the Black Lives Matter flag, the Juneteenth flag and the rainbow flag for LGBT pride.
Why the ban? That’s been a mystery for the last couple of days, since it appeared on the agenda for Monday night’s meeting — sparking immediate criticism from Democrats who say it’s a Republican plot to block the Pride flag.
Their logic: Among all the non-government flags, only the Pride colors honoring and welcoming Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people has flown in Darien over the last year or more, some people told me. Certainly it has been the most prominent, flying over town hall and one of the beaches through June, Pride Month, in 2021 and again this year.
The proposed ban, which would not apply to Darien schools, follows flag-limiting moves in Southington, Goshen, Suffield and other places in CT and across the nation. Sometimes the Pride flag is publicly named by the flag-ban proponents — almost always Republicans — sometimes not. …
“I feel like being able to see a pride flag flying from town hall and the beach tells our queer youth that the leadership of their hometown supports them,” said Guller, the Pride committee chair, “and I would hate to see that taken away.”
Read the complete New Haven Register story here.
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