LGBTQ+ Pride flag will not fly in Downtown Salisbury, says Mayor
SALISBURY, Md. – Saturday, June 1st, marks the start of LGBTQ+ pride month. The City of Salisbury will be breaking a five-year tradition of hoisting an LGBTQ+ pride flag, alongside the city, state of Maryland, and United States flag, on a downtown flagpole.
Flag Raising Nixed
Salisbury Mayor Randy Taylor tells WMDT that the planned flag raising will not go forward. He says using city assets to promote any one group over the other is inappropriate.
“We just came to the conclusion that we wouldn’t do that for any other group. So, we wouldn’t necessarily do it for PFLAG,” Mayor Taylor said. “We’re supportive of any group in public discourse or speech, but using city assets is a different thing, entirely.”
On June 29th, the City’s Arts, Business, and Culture Department will be working with Salisbury PFLAG to put on a pride parade and festival, which Mayor Taylor says still has the green light.
Salisbury PFLAG Reviews Options
However, Salisbury PFLAG Executive Director, Mark DeLancey, feels the group’s voice is being limited with the decision to not let the pride flag fly. He says he will soon be meeting with PLFAG’s Board of Directors to determine next steps.
“We are going to check what those options are going to look like,” DeLancey said. “Pride is still a go, and we will look forward to at least providing the City of Salisbury and Delmarva that event, as well.”
Future Plans
Looking ahead, Mayor Taylor says the City will only ever fly the Salisbury flag, the Maryland flag, and the American flag. Occasionally, Mayor Taylor says the City may also fly the POW-MIA flag.
Mayor Taylor added that the City is looking into whether or not the pride crosswalk outside of its headquarters would be repainted in the future. Whether the City would remove its light pole banners, featuring pride flag backgrounds and the words “We are all equal here,” is to be determined, says the Mayor.
“I hope [members of the LGBTQ+ community] don’t get offended,” Mayor Taylor said. “The only modification we made was the reduction in the use of the flag on our pole.”
