Downey has become the second Southern California city to essentially ban the pride flag. The city council adopted a neutral flag policy. Mekahlo Medina reports for the NBC4 News on Friday, May 17, 2024.
The Downey City Council on Tuesday passed a "neutral" flag policy that doesn't allow the Pride flag to be raised on city property.
“I thought we were leaders in the southeast (Los Angeles) by flying this flag, which is a sign of acceptance for everyone, no matter who you decide to love,” said Mayor Mario Trujillo, Downey's first openly gay mayor. “This is not progress. This is a step backward for my city.”
This policy was introduced by Mayor Pro Tem Hector Sosa, who said it wasn’t anti-LGBTQ+ but motivated by requests to his office to raise other flags like Blue Lives Matter and the Israeli flag.
“I don’t think it’s our role as elected officials to pick and choose which groups get to fly their flags,” Sosa said during the council's vote this week.
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Mayor Trujillo believed the motion was ignited by a three-year campaign by MassResistance, which refers to itself as a “pro-family activist organization.” It is listed as an anti-LGBTQ+ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“This flag is symbolic. It signifies acceptance, it signifies that Downey is a place where we value fairness, equality and acceptance for everyone,” said Trujillo. “When my colleagues had a chance to align themselves with this struggle, they chose to align themselves with a hate group.”
“To call people a hate group is obscene, offensive and defamatory,” said Arthur Schaper, a field representative with MassResistance.
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Schaper confirmed the group's involvement in the effort to change the flag policy in Downey.
“Downey residents reached out to us to help remove the Pride flag and restore a neutral flag policy,” said Schaper. “(Residents) don’t want the LGBTQ+ agenda pushed on their families and kids and in the public square.”
The "neutral" flag policy allows only federal, state, and local flags with the exception of the Prisoners of War and Missing in Action flags to fly on city property. Downey joins Huntington Beach as the second Southern California city to adopt a similar flag policy.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said she was “disappointed” and “worried about the message it sends to LGBTQ+ residents.” Congressmen Robert Garcia called it a “step backward” and Congresswoman Linda Sanchez called the motion a “petty decision.”
