ESTEVAN — Estevan City Hall’s council chamber was packed for Monday night’s council meeting, thanks to a discussion about a controversial flag and proclamation.
A group known as Concerned Citizens appeared before council, with Myles Fichter serving as their spokesperson. He wanted to know why Estevan city council denied their request to have the straight pride flag flown in front of city hall from July 11-17, and to have a Mom and Dad Week at the same time.
More than a dozen members of Concerned Citizens were in attendance. Meanwhile, several supporters of the gay pride movement were also present, while a few members of Estevan city council were dressed to support gay pride.
Fichter said Concerned Citizens found the denial “extremely disturbing”, since the city has held activities for Gay Pride Month in the past. While he was uncertain of what happened this year, he pointed out that in the past it has been in co-ordination with Moose Jaw Pride.
The first event was in 2016 with a flag-raising and a proclamation. Then it became a gender-diversity awareness week in 2017 with activities in the community. Events also occurred in 2018 and 2019.
He also pointed out the Estevan Public Library had Pride Month activities this year.
“Concerned Citizens fully support the concept of pride and inclusivity, which is essentially enshrouded by the Canadian Charter [of Rights and Freedoms]. The public promotion of sexual diversity by the City of Estevan, however, we do not,” said Fichter. “This can and often does, by nature, provide a standing, violated constitutional right of parents to raise and educate their own children. These rights include parents knowing where their children are, who has access to them, and what materials they’re exposed to and whether or not they are safe.”
He recalled that one of the Concerned Citizens SK members has a child at Hillcrest School. The student received a school-sponsored invitation to a free pizza and bowling event promoting diversity, inclusion and anti-bullying. Fichter said it proved to be an event in which the child was exposed to symbols and literature for pride and sexual diversity.
Concerned Citizens SK had three questions for council, he said. One is in the new policy that governs flag raisings and proclamations, and why it was used to deny their request.
Next, are outside organizations like Moose Jaw Pride or the Saskatchewan Pride Network co-ordinating with members of council on these events. Finally, they wanted to know which council members voted down their request.
Each council member took time to respond to the concerns. Coun. Rebecca Foord replied that the flag and proclamation policy states that requests will not be approved if it’s considered contentious, controversial or divisive within the community.
“It is my belief that flying the straight flag at city hall will be all three of those things,” said Foord, who was wearing a purple shirt supporting gay pride. “In our country, people who are out or are still finding their place in the LGBTQ2S+ community, [it] is increasingly dangerous and scary. Our world seems to be moving backwards when it comes to being accepting no matter who they are.”
Rejecting the straight pride request would not hurt or harm the Concerned Citizens SK group, but Foord said supporting it would have the potential to harm a group in the community that already has enough to battle, and given the impression Estevan is not a safe and inclusive community.
Coun. Kirsten Walliser, who had attire supporting gay pride, said pride celebrates achievements of the past to earn basic human rights and freedoms that heterosexual people have always had and have taken for granted.
“Pride is the opportunity to highlight the disparity that continues to this day,” Walliser said. “The lack of access to secure housing and health care, the prevalence of gender-based violence and the ongoing acts of discrimination and hatred. This community remains under-represented and marginalized at the decision-making table to this day.”
Straight pride does not have a shared history of oppression or marginalization, she said, and the straight pride flag has been used by groups to spread division and hatred.
She said she wants to live in a world where everyone is safe to be who they are.
Coun. Lindsay Clark admitted that there was a time when he would have made negative comments towards certain groups like gay people. He’s glad that the younger generations have accepted them.
“This is wrong. Let’s accept them. This is a great community,” said Clark, who requested the Concerned Citizens SK group to withdraw their request.
Coun. Shelly Veroba said she wanted to keep an open mind and see their vision entering the meeting, but she saw hostility, not from Fichter, whom she thanked for his presentation, but from another member of the group who was seated in the crowd with the straight pride flag they wanted to have flown.
A shouting match ensued between the two, with Mayor Roy Ludwig trying repeatedly to ease the tension.
Coun. Travis Frank, who also had a purple shirt, addressed the questions from Fichter’s group. The city is not currently partnering with pride, he said. Organizations that have received funding from the city, like the Estevan Public Library, have held events, but those organizations are not run by the city and the city does not have control with what they do with the funding.
There is also not a formal gay pride committee in Estevan that he is aware of.
As for why straight pride doesn’t fit the city’s definitions for a proclamation and a flag raising and gay pride does, Frank said it’s because Gay Pride is a nationally-recognized event.
Finally, Frank noted he had the chance to ask his gay uncles about the issue.
“They still get glares when they walk down the street and try to hold hands, and my wife and I don’t, and that is why pride matters and why I’ll continue to support it.”
After members of council spoke, they were applauded by other councillors and the gay pride supporters present.
Ludwig noted that some communities have said they will only fly municipal, provincial, federal and Indigenous flags because they don’t want the conflict. It’s something council could give consideration to, he said. Coun. Tony Sernick expressed support for the suggestion, but most members of council said they would agree with flying the pride flag.
Sernick, who attended the meeting remotely from a conference in Saskatoon, said he hated the hostility that he heard in the meeting.
