Arroyo Grande City Hall will fly Pride flag. ‘Our town won’t stand for intolerance’
A Pride flag will fly in front of Arroyo Grande City Hall and Heritage Square Park next month.
The Arroyo Grande City Council unanimously passed a new commemorative flag policy Tuesday night that allows the city to display certain flags on city properties, as long as the council approves the specific flag.
The council also approved plans to display the progress flag at City Hall and Heritage Square Park throughout the month of June, which is Pride Month.
The progress flag is a rainbow Pride flag that features an additional five-colored chevron, meant to represent transgender folks and marginalized lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) communities of color.
“The flag is about recognizing that LGBTQ people exist in our community, and that they deserve respect and dignity, and that our town won’t stand for intolerance and hate,” Council Member Kristen Barneich said during Tuesday’s meeting. “This flag is not about being divisive at all. It’s absolutely about love and acceptance.”
During the meeting, several city residents who identified themselves as members of the LGBTQ+ community spoke and shared how happy they were that the city was taking this step toward inclusion.
“Growing up here was not easy. Being a gay person 15 years ago, 10 years ago in Arroyo Grande was not easy — a lot of isolation,” Arroyo Grande resident Kailyn Pope said during the meeting. “I think it’s very important, even just a small representation of solidarity like that (displaying the flag), I think it is very, very important.”
Erica Andrade, director of 5 Cities Hope, a nonprofit LGBTQ+ support organization based in Arroyo Grande, said the decision would go a long way toward making young LGBTQ+ kids feel supported by their city.
“For us having that flag up at Heritage Square Park is very meaningful,” Andrade said. “Kids are watching. They are seeing if their town is inclusive.”
In the future, if the city wants to fly a different type of commemorative flag, it will first have to be proposed by a City Council member and then approved by a supermajority of the council.
This story was originally published May 26, 2021 at 12:54 PM.
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