Controversy Brews Over Gay Pride Flags in San Francisco
A neighborhood organization is at odds with gay rights activists over the future of the rainbow gay pride flags in San Francisco’s Castro District.
The flags hang from a series of lampposts that the city of San Francisco designated as landmarks in 1991.
City law only allows temporary banners on the posts out of concerns about damaging them.
And now, the Mission Dolores Neighborhood Association said the fasteners used to hold the flags down are doing damage to the posts and it’s time for the banners to come down.
“We completely support the diversity in the area,” the association said in a statement to The Associated Press. “This is about preserving a city landmark from permanent signage.”
But many gay rights activists argue that the banners in the Castro define the neighborhood and are slowly being lost as the flags become tattered and can’t be replaced.
San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty has come up with a proposal that would allow the flags to stay on the lampposts as long as their fasteners don’t do more damage.
The city’s Historic Preservation Commission has backed Dufty’s plan and the Board of Supervisors will take up the issue next month.
Photo Credit: By Infratec (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
