STRATHROY – Politicians here overwhelmingly rejected restrictions proposed by a town council colleague that would have banned non-government flags on municipally owned land, a possibility that rankled LGBTQ community members.
In an 8-1 vote Monday night, politicians turfed Coun. Brian Derbyshire’s bid to allow only municipal, provincial and federal flags on flagpoles on municipal properties, a motion that garnered backlash from some who saw it as exclusionary.
Derbyshire insisted his motion in no way reflected his views on LGBTQ-friendly Pride flags – similar bans in other rural communities have been seen as designed to eliminate them – but one community member said he felt the proposal sent the wrong message.
“I hope other townships look to us to see how things are done correctly,” Strathroy Pride director Frank Emanuele said in a Monday interview, adding he feels the town west of London has “the gold standard on how to coexist and have a community in a rural community in Ontario.
“This ban just takes us back, they’re just steps in the wrong direction.”
Councillors John Brennan, Sandi Hipple, Donna Pammer, Steve Pelkman and Greg Willsie were joined by Mayor Colin Grantham and Deputy Mayor Mike McGuire in rejecting the motion. Brennan acted as a proxy for Coun. Frank Kennes, who was absent and also opposed Derbyshire’s motion. Derbyshire was the lone vote in favour.
At the debate, Derbyshire sought to clarify his intention – which he said was not to outright ban Pride flags. He said that Strathroy doesn’t do proclamations, and the city’s flag policy should align with the practice of not flying flags of special interest groups on municipally owned property.
“I want you to understand, my intention was not to upset and rattle this,” he said. “I was trying to put our municipality, both our policies, in line with each other, to where, if we do nothing, we can always say: you can’t be told you’re discriminating.”
As part of his concern, Derbyshire said he was trying to protect the municipality from being “in front of a human rights commission because we’ve made the same decision (as) London.”
Derbyshire was citing an incident almost three decades ago in 1995, when then-Mayor Dianne Haskett refused to sign a Pride proclamation and raise the rainbow flag at city hall. She was fined $5,000 after a human rights complaint was filed.
The mayor defended Derbyshire’s right to bring the motion forward. “As much as we may disagree with it, that’s part of the democratic process.”
As Emanuele noted in an interview, similar proposals have drawn significant attention in other smaller Southwestern Ontario communities in recent years. Most notable is the Oxford County town of Norwich, south of Woodstock, which drew national backlash in 2023 when its five-person council voted to ban all non-government flags on municipality policy. They later overturned the policy.
“(Norwich) undid the banning because it caused so much divide in the community,” Emanuele said.
He also noted there are other minority groups who would have been affected by the ban, noting the Truth and Reconciliation flag now flies on Strathroy public property.
Grantham echoed Emanuele’s sentiment in a pre-debate interview. “This community has been built on inclusivity and diversity.”
Emanuele, who noted the local government is a constant participant in raising the Pride flag locally, was blunt about his disappointment over the issue. “It’s a bit embarrassing, to be honest, for our township to even have to consider this.”
[email protected]
@BrianWatLFPress
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada