By Brandon Pho and Hosam Elattar, Voice of OC
Jun 6, 2023
Read the original article on Voice of OC: https://voiceofoc.org/2023/06/oc-supervisors-ban-pride-flag-at-county-properties-under-new-policy/
A narrow majority of Orange County Supervisors on Tuesday
voted to ban the rainbow Pride Flag from flying on all County of Orange
properties, including the Civic Center and public parks.
Their vote restricts flags hoisted at the county to OC,
state and national flags, along with a flag for U.S. prisoners of war and
soldiers missing in action.
Pride banners don’t currently fly outside county offices and
properties, but Tuesday’s vote bans it and others from making their way up the
flagpoles.
The ban on the iconic symbol for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
Transgender people was requested by Supervisor Andrew Do and supported by
Supervisors Don Wagner and Doug Chaffee in the beginning of LGBTQ+ Pride month.
They said that flying any flag in advocacy of a group of
people would open their policymaking sessions up to “divisive” public forums.
“It’s a distraction,” said Chaffee. “It takes me away from
really working to make the county better.”
Do argued his proposal wasn’t motivated by any one cause or
social issue and that he has routinely supported the LGBTQ+ community.
People who opposed the Pride Flag praised Do’s proposal
during Tuesday’s public comment – calling the symbol “divisive” and “sinful” –
and looked on as Do attempted to dissuade any notion he was targeting it.
Do recounted the times he helped transgender people get
vaccinated against COVID-19 and hired a gay man to the county’s top public
health leadership role.
Wagner, however, made it clear that his support for Do’s
proposal was indeed a response to flying the Pride Flag.
“It is not a coincidence that this policy is in front of us
right now. It is not a coincidence that we’re considering it today for the
first time in the more than 100 years of this County’s existence,” he said at
Tuesday’s meeting.
“We’re considering it today, in response to the divisive
effort to fly one particular flag. So yes, there absolutely is a connection,”
Wagner said.
Supervisors Vicente Sarmiento and Katrina Foley, who wore
pins in support of the Pride Flag during the discussion, voted against the ban,
arguing their colleagues were capitulating to hate.
“By taking the stance today of banning the Pride Flag, which
is what this is tantamount to, at all of our county buildings, our county board
offices, other than in our internal offices, our parks, our airport, our
harbors, our beaches, it sends the wrong message to America and to the world,”
Foley said.
The county supervisors’ debate got tense with an audience
consisting of people who supported the county flying the flag, while others
were against the idea.
At one point, Foley asked Do if the flags flown by the OC
Sheriff would then violate his new policy.
The police appreciation week flag – “are they not allowed to
fly that any more?” Foley said.
“You’re free to ask and I’m free to ignore you,” Do said
while some people in the audience laughed.
Toward the vote, Foley told her opposing colleagues:
“I’m through with this discussion but I’m not through with
you.”
The idea of flying a Pride Flag on government property is
often split down political lines, like most recently in Huntington Beach.
But things played out a little differently on Tuesday.
Chaffee – a Democrat – sided with Republicans Do and Wagner on voting for the
flag restriction policy. Sarmiento and Foley, both Democrats, voted against the
policy.
In the lead-up to Tuesday’s regular Board of Supervisors
meeting, both Sarmiento and Foley attempted to place a separate proposal on the
agenda for a discussion on purchasing and flying the flag on county property.
That request was denied by Wagner, the board’s chairman, who
told Voice of OC he went with Do’s request with the idea it would tee-up the
entire discussion.
Sarmiento pointed to his hometown of Santa Ana, where he
previously served as Mayor, and the similar Pride Flag push back they faced.
“The sky hasn’t fallen, we have not become more divided. We
have not separated. If anything, it’s shown that we are inclusive, if anything,
it’s shown that we are supportive of those communities that we know have been
the targets of hate,” he said.
The decision comes amid a stark rise of hate crimes against
the LGBTQ+ community.
The OC Human Relations Commission put out the annual hate
crime report in September which showed an 83% increase in hate crimes against
the LGBTQ+ community in 2021.
Hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community have increased by
2,100% since 2017, according to the commission.
The action came months after Huntington Beach City Council
members voted to implement a similar policy restricting what flags can be
raised over city properties.
