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‘Put Out a Welcome Mat’: Laconia Marks End of Pride Month with Celebration

By Catherine Mclaughlin
THE LACONIA DAILY SUN
LACONIA — A gay pride flag now hangs at Laconia City Hall and will remain there until the end of June, which is nationally recognized as Pride Month.

David Stamps, chair of the Laconia Human Relations Committee, presented City Council with a request to hang a pride flag at City Hall until the end of Pride Month at the June 27 meeting. Councilors reached a non-voting consensus to fulfill this request, which was not unanimous, at the end of the meeting.

The council responded overnight by having the flag displayed on the face of City Hall. Stamps had given a flag to the council, but, because it is larger than the American flag currently on display, that particular flag may not fly on the flag pole.

The Human Relations Committee – a mayoral committee whose mission is to promote and protect justice, tolerance, understanding, individual dignity, education, and civic engagement in the city – had voted unanimously to make this request at its meeting on June 13.

A letter to the editor from Jazmine Jackson published in The Laconia Daily Sun on June 10, asked, “Where are the pride flags at city hall? For a city making such progress, it is disappointing that the mayor and council didn’t make this a priority and making a stand against this hateful behavior.”

In response to the letter, Stamps brought this idea to the Human Relations Committee, realizing, at his wife’s suggestion, that this was an issue within its purview.

Stamps shared with the council figures about the significant portion of Americans that identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community — 7.1% of U.S. adults, according to Gallup, a figure that has been steadily rising in the last decade — and emphasized that this move to express acceptance would have a strong impact on the growing queer community in the city.

“We do know through many studies that acceptance by others is extremely important to good mental health,” Stamps said. “In this time we cannot afford to throw people away; we are all human resources.”

During his regular report, Mayor Andrew Hosmer endorsed the request.

“As a member of that committee, I wholeheartedly support that endeavor,” Hosmer said. “I do believe we have a community of many parts… and the strength of our city and the fabric of our community is through diversity and acceptance of one another.” Hosmer applauded Jackson for writing the letter to the editor.

At the end of the council meeting, Hosmer opened discussion to the group to try and get a consensus on hanging the flag for the remainder of the month.

Councilor Henry Lipman said he wanted to establish a policy on what flags the city would display and how, but said he supported the Human Relation Committee’s request to fly the pride flag until the end of this month.

“How you demonstrate flags is a very sensitive issue for a lot of people,” Lipman said. “I think we have a consensus around what we currently display and when we start to bring other things in you run the risk… of being divisive.”

Councilors Soucy, Haynes, and Cheney agreed that forming a general policy for flag display on city property was warranted.

“I’m not anxious, to be honest with you, to see what happens after we start displaying it, but to do it for a couple of days, I wouldn’t be opposed,” Cheney said. He also had concerns about what other groups might ask to have their flag displayed. “We ought to have some idea of what the parameters are,” he said. Cheney noted that he gave his support for the committee’s request with the understanding that this policy development would happen.

Councilor Robert Hamel withheld support for the measure. Hamel said that he wanted more information about the legal circumstances around flag flying and therefore would not join an informal consensus to display the flag.

“I just think we need to have more input on this,” Hamel said. “That’s the only reason.”

“Crafting a policy from here on out on as to what flags we do [display], I think that’s a good follow-up discussion to have,” Hosmer said.

In an interview, Stamps said that he thought developing a fair procedure and policy on this matter would be a good thing for the city and that other groups should be encouraged to make similar requests to city council.

Stamps said that, as chair of the Human Relations Committee, he felt it was important to “put out a welcome mat” in this way, “even if that’s a flash point for some people.”

These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.

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