The North Yarmouth Select Board voted 3-2 on Tuesday to remove the Pride flag display that had been up since June 1 at the town’s community center and to develop a flag policy for municipal property going forward, despite opposition from the majority of public commenters.
“You say it’s a welcoming flag; maybe they say it’s not a welcoming flag. The community center should be a neutral space. I know someone said it’s not a political flag; the truth is it has taken on political meanings,” said Whitmarsh.
“I want to see this space welcoming to everyone, and that means the people who agree with the flag and the people who don’t agree with the flag,” he added.
Select Board Chair Paul Whitmarsh brought forth the agenda item after he said that a member of the community asked him to have it taken down since it was no longer June, LGBTQ Pride Month.
During the public comment period, North Yarmouth residents spoke on both sides of the issue, but the majority of attendees wanted the Pride flag to remain up year-round.
One member of the public objected to the Pride flag being placed higher in its community center display than the American flag.
Board Member Andrea Berry was the most vocal in her opposition to taking the flag down.
“I do hope that we leave it up, and that we do leave it up for the full year. Certainly, at my house, we don’t just have one; we’ve got three, plus a whole bunch of others peppered inside the house that you can see from the road, and they’re up all year long,” said Berry.
After the public comment and board discussion segments of the meeting, the board voted in favor of Whitmarsh’s motion to remove the flag, with Berry and Molly Gilligan opposing the motion and Whitmarsh, Dana Rogers, and Michael Sweatt supporting the motion.
Berry then made a motion to require the flag to be up at the community center every June.
During the board discussion on Berry’s proposal, multiple members of the public attempted to interject and were told to take their discussion outside because the public comment period had already passed.
Berry’s proposal failed, with only Berry and Gilligan supporting it. Rogers, however, said that he would support including a similar requirement in the flag policy when it is developed later on.
The decision to remove the flag appears to be a departure from the board’s previous statement made, with objection from Whitmarsh, after a trans-identifying male from the town drew national attention for competing in girls’ sports.
