Pride flag returning to Merced’s Main Street — but not without debate among city leaders
A rainbow flag representing the global LGBTQ+ community will again wave above Bob Hart Square during Pride Month in June — despite disapproval from some Merced residents and City Council members.
The Progress Pride flag was raised in downtown Merced for the first time during last year’s Pride Month.
Its hoisting was lauded by members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community as a physical symbol of progress in a city and region that hasn’t always been so welcoming to that population.
“When this City Council voted unanimously last year to fly the flag, you set a wave of progress in motion,” Merced Pride Center Executive Director Jennifer McQueen said while addressing the council Monday.
With a majority of City Council members voting to approve the Merced Pride Center’s request, the banner will again stand over Bob Hart Square during the month of June.
“I support this with honor,” Councilmember Jesse Ornelas said before voting in support of the flag.
Not every City Council member held conviction as strong as Ornelas. Although only Councilmember Kevin Blake voted against flying the flag, others voiced hesitation — echoing the concerns of some Merced residents.
Last year, the Council’s decision to support the Progress Pride Flag received no public condemnation.
The flag features traditional LGBTQ+ rainbow colors along with a forward-facing arrow made of transgender Pride colors of blue, pink and white as well as black and brown stripes to represent people of color.
Merced leaders present at the flag’s raising in Bob Hart Square also said at the time that they hadn’t heard any criticism since the unanimous vote.
But Monday, several individuals left public comments by voicemail asking that leaders vote against hoisting the flag again.
Some said they were against any banner being flown except for the American flag. “Otherwise, you open yourself up to discrimination if you were to oppose any other flag,” resident Rhonda Jenkins said in her public comment.
A few City Council members expressed views similar to those concerns. “What I worry about is what requests are going to make their way in after this,” Councilmember Delray Shelton said.
Shelton also floated the question of what would happen if the council was faced with a request to fly a hate group’s banner — like that of the Ku Klux Klan — over Bob Hart Square.
City Council members Sarah Boyle and Blake echoed Shelton’s concerns. When it came time to cast the official vote though, only Blake opposed raising the Progress Pride flag.
Blake said his “no” vote had nothing to do with the LGBTQ+ community specifically, saying he would have voted against flying any banner other than official federal and state government flags.
Blake noted his dissent toward the entire process of allowing commemorative flags to be raised on city property. “As much as I do support the LGBTQ community . . . I don’t think any flags other than the ones I mentioned should fly on taxpayer-funded city property,” Blake explained.
Others on the council took issue with Blake, Boyle and Shelton’s concerns. “We (would) stand up to it. We stand up to hate,” Ornelas said in response to Shelton’s hypothetical question about what the council would do, were they confronted with a request to fly a hate group’s flag.
City Council members Bertha Perez and Fernando Echevarria echoed Ornelas, stating that it is their role as elected officials to make decisions about what is and is not appropriate for the city.
Perez added that there’s no comparison between a group like the KKK and the LGBTQ+ community, although Shelton clarified it was not his intention to compare to two as similar.
Some residents spoke out vehemently against flying the Pride flag, saying its completely out of alignment with their views.
“I am 100% against this item,” said a man identified as Richard Rodriguez in his voicemail. “I feel that it is a form of racism and segregation and also fear for the future of my children and hatred they could receive, should they choose a straight life.”
But proponents of the Progress Pride flag refuted that it represents any form of division. Rather, the banner is a symbol of love, acceptance and inclusion for all people, advocates said.
“First and foremost, this flag being flown in Bob Hart square has nothing to do with us versus any other people or group, because we are indeed in every facet of humanity and society,” said LGBTQIA+/2S Communications Director Adam Lane.
Local symbols of diversity have tumultuous history
Merced residents have seen celebrations of diversity, inclusion and progress come in starts and stops over the years.
Merced’s LGBT Community Center was asked in 2014 to remove its flag by the building’s owner. The center’s staff said that they informed the property’s owners during the rental process that they wanted to use the flagpole, but were later told that only the American and California flags could be flown at the site.
Other messages intended as symbols of solidarity have also been shot down by the City Council before on account of being too politically charged for the city. A proposed Black Lives Matter street mural was rejected in 2020 after a barrage of residents publicly opposed it.
Also during Pride Month last year, an LGBTQ+ flag was burned in downtown Merced during an act of vandalism.
But residents are praising the first annual Merced Queer Film Festival as the most recent sign of local progress toward making the city more welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community. The multi-day event will be held May 19-22.
This story was originally published May 3, 2022 at 3:20 PM.
