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Flying the Pride flag is a gateway to ISIS, a Connecticut official claims as town passes ban (www.advocate.com)

submitted 10 months ago by tree@lemmy.zip to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world

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A Connecticut town council voted to ban the LGBTQ+ pride flag in government buildings almost immediately after coming under Republican control.

The Enfield Town Council voted in a meeting Monday to ban all flags from flying at government buildings save for the United States, Connecticut state, and military flags. The new policy, which went through with a vote of 6-5, replaces a 2022 policy that allowed the rainbow flag to fly during Pride Month in June.

While some the council members pushing the policy claimed to do so as a way to remain "neutral," Councilor At-Large Gina Cekala, who voted against the measure, accused them of directly targeting the LGBTQ+ community and Pride flag.

“I think the real reason is you don’t want that Pride flag up on this town hall,” she said, “which is absolutely disgusting."

Tom Tyler, the interim town attorney, claimed at one point that if the the Pride flag was allowed to be flown, “ISIS could come in and want to display one, the IRA…basically anybody. You’d have to be content neutral and let everybody." He then went off-topic to accuse schools of trying to indoctrinate students with “transgender ideology.”

The decision came as a betrayal to many of the town's residents, including Brandon Jewell of PFLAG Enfield, who noted that two of the Republicans voting to ban flags previously voted in favor of the 2022 policy that allowed the Pride displays.

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[–] cosmicrookie@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago (3 children)

It's not about issis supporting lgbt+ but about having to allow any flag if you allow one.

[–] fidodo@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

What fucking country do they think they're in?

[–] tocopherol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

How is this different than a city saying "if we allow you to fly a flag for the Steelers, what's next, a Nazi German flag?" Any reasonable person can see that there is a clear line between something like a flag that supports an innocuous mainstream idea and a flag representing a terrorist organization, it's ridiculous and clearly motivated by bigotry. Cities and towns have been displaying rainbows in various forms for years during pride month and I haven't seen any inch of progression towards right-wing Islamic terror groups being supported also.

[–] cosmicrookie@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

The post is about flagging in public buildings. I can't imagine public buildings setting up a flag for the steelers and not doing so for any other team.

I expect the issue is, that you can't expect reason especially when it's in up to the public. People and organisations will find ways to exploit this.

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Right except that isn't true. Having a public space to display a flag doesn't mean that all flags are open to be displayed. Meanwhile, as the article clearly states, this so-called attorney was yelling against trans people.

[–] cosmicrookie@lemmy.world 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

How and who decides what flag is open to be displayed and how much more backslash would a council group have to accept for having to decide on this?

I agree though, that the attorney is wrong in going into a personal rant about schools brainwashing lgbt+ into children.

It's the decision to limit what flags a public organisation flags (and ideally what ideas they support). IMO they should be completely neutral in regards to anything

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The council is supposed to decide that. They are supposed to do their fucking jobs. They wanted to make decisions? Go make them and live with those decisions. They made a shitty one and I hope they get shit for it. If they aren't capable of that they shouldn't hold that position.

And no the solution isn't to be neutral because there is not two morally equal sides in this. This isn't arguing if a certain tax rate should be 5% or 6% or if the library should get a bathroom upgrade this year or the next year, this is arguing that a portion of our population doesn't have the right to exist. And furthermore that children need to be trained to ignore them as they said minority is harmed. How do I know this? Because the fucker said it.

[–] cosmicrookie@lemmy.world 0 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I am not particularly invested in this case as you are. I can only discuss based on this article and although the attorney vented off topic anti-trans arguments, the rest of the council don't need to share his opinions. This is not about the right to exist. Its about a flag on the city hall. They have forbitten all other flags but the US flag, the state flag and military flags. I'll leave this conversation now, because it seems like we've gone through what there is to go through

[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

This is about the right to exist. The Christians in this country want the LGBT to fuck off and die with as little noise as possible. That's why Reagan and co LAUGHED as AIDS killed them and that's why the Christians in this town decided to not even make a tiny little gesture, that hurts no one, just acknowledging that they exist.

That so-called attorney said the quite part loud.

Go listen to YOUR Christians buddies laugh it up; https://youtu.be/wd1x0PFBeSU?si=MBhzefe15NikZfdZ