Lacey City Council voted 5-2 to approve a new flag policy, but the goodwill created by the policy was almost completely undone by public comment and a difficult council conversation.
Lacey Mayor Andy Ryder used the word "shocking" during the meeting, and that's exactly how the council appeared after Lacey public works employee Jason Bourgault stepped up to the podium to address the elected body.
He identified himself as a Christian and began to speak out against the Pride flag, the rainbow-colored flag that represents the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community.
"When the Pride flag first flew over our city shop, it felt wrong but I couldn't verbalize my concerns," he told the council. "As the years came and went, each National Day of Prayer, a single day, would pass without so much as an email acknowledging the occasion, but the Pride flag would be flown for an entire month.
"God's love is for all of us, the whole world and every tribe, nation and tongue," he went on to say. "However, it's important to separate the love of the people from the love of the choices they make. A lifestyle that opposes God's will grieves the Lord so it grieves me, and I am compelled to rebuke the opposition of God's will."
Bourgault ended his comments by focusing on the policy before the council.
"I ask that the city, in policy, remain unbiased and professional and adopt a neutral flag policy, and I respectfully request we stop flying the Pride flag," he said.
His comments were met by stunned council silence. However, the silence soon ended as the council discussed the updated flag policy, including recommendations from the city's equity commission that the city fly certain flags in an effort to be a more welcoming community.
The updated policy, in addition to flying the U.S., state, city and POW/MIA flags, recommended flying the Progress Pride flag, the Juneteenth flag, the Nisqually Tribe flag and the Squaxin Island Tribe flag. There also has been discussion about flying the Chehalis Tribe flag, agenda information shows.
Council member Ed Kunkel kicked things off by saying his constituents think "special interest" flags draw away from the intent of the American flag.
"That flag represents all of us, regardless of who they are," he said. "As long as they are an American citizen, it doesn't matter who they are, where they come from, the American flag represents it all."
Kunkel urged the council to "stick to the basics" of U.S., state, city and POW/MIA flags.
"We cover everybody," he said.
Council Carolyn Cox respectfully disagreed, saying the updated flag policy was important "because these groups have been routinely discriminated against."
But Kunkel wasn't done.
"If we didn't have the American flag, we wouldn't have this conversation about discrimination," he said, adding that special interest flags "set us apart and divide the community."
Lacey Mayor Andy Ryder couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"I'm in complete disagreement," said Ryder, pointing out that the Nisqually and Squaxin Island tribes were here long before the United States was created. "We are on their property," he said. "To say they are a 'special interest' is shocking."
He continued: "There is nothing wrong with recognizing equity within our community, and recognizing the individuals who have sacrificed as U.S. citizens and who have not, most of the time, received all the rights and privileges as the rest of us."
Council member Lenny Greenstein also was opposed to the updated flag policy, but he made a slightly different argument.
He said he was against it, not because it does fly certain flags, but because it doesn't fly other flags.
"Many other groups have been marginalized or discriminated against and suffered the same indignities that you are referring to, but we're not flying their flags," he said. "We are picking and choosing which groups to put a flag up for and not doing it for all and that's my issue."
But Ryder argued that the Progress Pride flag already does that. Not only does it represent the LGBTQ community, it does extend to other groups who have been marginalized. And there's a process for bringing other flags to the city's attention, he added.
Before they voted in favor of the new policy, council member Robin Vazquez got the final word.
"There have been historical, institutional barriers to inclusion for some people in our community, and we can choose as a government to send a signal to everyone in our community that people should feel included and safe and as if they belong, and we do it intentionally because in the past government has not sent that message," she said. "There have been laws on the books and unwritten polices that exclude people, so when we fly certain flags to welcome in those groups that have faced those barriers in the past, it sends a message to the whole community that we are trying to make people safer."
