WESTLOCK, Canada – Anti-LGBT activists got enough signatures to force the town of about 5,000 people 50 miles north of Edmonton to hold a vote on February 22. The vote will be about whether to ban Pride symbols and other flags from being displayed on municipal land.
People who are against LGBT rights started protesting against Pride flags after the gay-straight alliance at the local high school asked the town council for permission to put up a rainbow crossing. The town council decided unanimously to let the students paint the crosswalk, even though some residents came to council to speak out against it.
In June, the RF Staples School Thunder Alliance put in the crossing. In Canada, referendums don’t happen very often, but if at least 10% of people sign a petition for one, Alberta law says that municipalities have to hold one. By September, anti-LGBTQ+ campaigners had gathered 700 signatures.
At a town council meeting on November 27, councilors agreed to hold the referendum, but they were very critical of the clear bias behind it. That’s what Councilor Laura Morie said at the meeting: “This is lipstick on bigotry.”
The plan says that “political, social, religious, or commercial entities” can’t have their signs on city flagpoles or crosswalks. The only ones that can’t be there are those related to the national, provincial, or local government.
The plan seems to be neutral at first glance, but the rainbow crosswalk is thought to be the only piece of city infrastructure that would be changed by the ban. If the referendum wins, it would have to be taken down.
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Other symbols could also be affected by the plan. For example, the town would not be able to fly flags for Indigenous groups or the military, which hasn’t been a problem in the past.
Stephanie Bakker, who is in charge of organizing the petition, has made it clear that her activity is not anti-LGBT, but rather about getting the government to be “neutral.” This is true even though the Pride crosswalk was the only thing that made her take action. In a lengthy blog post on the website of her campaign group, she warns people who support the flag that letting the government back a group for fairness reasons could hurt them in the long run.
“Maybe the government is picking a group that you like to support today.” What will happen, though, if a party you don’t like wins the election and then has the power to promote and fire people? How will they decide who is “worthy” and who is “unworthy”?” Bakker writes something.
That being said, Bakker doesn’t say who or what other bad groups the city government might support in the future.
Politicians in Canada who are against LGBTQ+ people have said in the past that flying Pride flags would set a bad example by letting Nazi flags, which has always been a ridiculous argument. Westlock would be the first city in Canada to get rid of a Pride crossing if the vote goes through.
Westlock would be the first city in Canada to get rid of a Pride crossing if the vote goes through. Helen Kennedy, executive head of the Canadian LGBT advocacy group Egale, says the Pride flag is a powerful way to show support for the 2SLGBTQI community and make them feel welcome.
Kennedy says that cities and towns that fly Pride flags or paint crosswalks in rainbow colors show that they care about diversity, inclusion, and the safety of all their people. “At a time when hate crimes against 2SLGBTQI people in Canada are on the rise, the decision to stop local governments from showing support for our communities is dangerous and irresponsible.”
