City council rains on Pride Month rainbow flag

LACONIA — There will be no rainbow flag flown from City Hall, though there was during last year’s Pride Month, nor will a flag in support of gay rights be flown from any city-owned flagpole this year, after a proposal to do just that failed to find support from the city council.

The proposal was suggested by the mayor’s advisory Human Relations Committee, and brought to the council on Monday by Councilor Tony Felch of Ward 6, who asked his fellow councilors to support a motion to fly a rainbow flag from the flagpole in the traffic island in front of the Congregational Church.

“So it’s not right here at City Hall but it is flown by the city,” Felch explained. “We flew it last year, we had no negative feedback. We had lots of positive feedback, actually.”

Public Works Director Wes Anderson noted if the flag is flown on the same pole as one also flying the American flag, it would have to be smaller than Old Glory, and he thought the Pride flag used last year would be too large.

“I’ll purchase it if I have to,” offered Felch.

But that offer was in vain, because the other sitting councilors — Henry Lipman, Robert Soucy, Mark Haynes and Bruce Cheney — all sat silent when Mayor Andrew Hosmer asked if anyone would second the motion.

Without a second, the motion failed before it could be discussed. However, the merits of a city-flown Pride flag — June is federally recognized as LGBTQ Pride Month, in honor of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan, New York — came up both prior to and after Felch’s motion.

Pat Wood, speaking on behalf of the Human Relations Committee, spoke during public comments. Wood emphasized the intrinsic value of each human being, which is enhanced by, rather than diminished by, their differences from whatever might be considered normal in society.

“When we forget that uniqueness, to think that everyone should be like us, then we tend to treat those other people as less important, less worthy of our respect, less worthy of our compassion. This, my friends, is the beginning of a slide down the slippery slope toward prejudice and bigotry,” Wood said.

“When we talk about flying the Pride flag, we are not talking about making people change who they are,” Wood continued. “Instead we are talking about recognizing the fact that a person’s sexual orientation does not change the human nature of that person, and the prejudice and bigotry that keep that person from fulfilling their full potential should not and will not be part of the culture of the city of Laconia ... It provides proof that we here in Laconia believe that everyone should have the opportunity to reach their full potential as a human being.”

The Human Relations Committee proposed last year the city fly the Pride flag, a request granted by allowing the flag to be hung on the City Hall exterior. That request sparked a discussion among the council about the creation of a policy to handle requests for flags to be flown from city property. Now, a year later, the council is still drafting such a policy, and it came up for discussion on Monday night when Cheney, who represents Ward 1, recommended sending it to the council’s Governmental Committee to “hammer it out.”

That recommendation passed, but it did so over the wishes of Lipman, councilor for Ward 3.

“Right now, we don’t have an issue, we are creating an issue,” Lipman said. “It’s a distraction and a divisionary measure.” Lipman said flying the Pride flag would prove “more divisive than unifying” among the city’s residents, though he said he agreed with the arguments that Wood presented. “I guess the issue is whether putting the flag on City Hall is maybe a divisionary measure or not.”

Hosmer said he supported sending the policy to the Governmental Committee, with the reasoning that clear guidelines would aid a future council to handle a potentially troublesome situation, such as a request to fly a flag from a “distasteful” organization.

To which Lipman replied, “I think it’s going to be a more divisive issue than anyone around this table realizes.”

Cheney said that the question at hand wasn’t about one flag in particular, but about crafting a stout policy.

“I don’t support a Pride flag, or a communism flag,” Cheney said. “We have a Memorial Day, a Veterans Day, but we have a Pride month, and that hurts me ... I want this worked through and I hope, Henry, you come to the meetings so we can talk about all your concerns and get it right.”

After the council agreed, over Lipman’s concerns, to send the policy to committee, and after Felch’s request was left fluttering in the breeze, Hosmer asked the council to support a mayoral proclamation to support Pride month.

“It is essential to acknowledge that the need for education is vital to eliminate prejudice,” Hosmer’s resolution read. “Celebrating Pride Month influences awareness, support and advocacy, and is an opportunity to engage in dialogue to enhance equal rights.”

The resolution, which initially included a reference to the Pride flag, also read, “Be it further resolved that the rainbow flag, wherever it’s raised, recognizes all residents whose influential and lasting contributions to our neighborhoods make Laconia a vibrant community in which to live, work and visit.”

Hosmer said he hoped the council would support the resolution.

Lipman said it would have his support, “insofar as it does not include putting a flag on a city flagpole. I encourage people in the community to put up flags that they choose, I support everything in that motion except that part, because I do think that it’s going to be a divisive issue, and one that future councils will have to manage ... I appreciate every sentiment that you expressed in there. There should not be discrimination, there should be a willingness to support our residents in the community.”

Soucy, who represents Ward 2, said he didn’t support the proclamation as written, which included mention of the Pride flag.

“I do not support the proclamation because you’re talking about a whole month. We have a great holiday in Martin Luther King Day that brings everyone together no matter what race, creed, sexual orientation or anything else there is. I look upon that holiday as doing the same thing you’re saying here. At the same time, as Councilor Cheney mentioned, we have Memorial Day, we have a Veterans Day, a lot of those have been not really as observed as much. Not much attention or celebration, whatever you want to call it.”

However, the council agreed without dissent to support the proclamation once Hosmer removed the mention of the Pride flag.

In an interview, Hosmer said he was “disappointed” the council didn’t support the hanging of a Pride flag, and he hoped a policy would make the proposal more favorable next June, noting that the flag seemed to be well-received when displayed at City Hall.

"I had nothing but positive feedback from the flag being flown," Hosmer said. "I'm fully supportive of hanging the Pride flag on the flagpole near the rotary."