California City Passes Ban Preventing Government from Flying ‘Pride’ Flags

Voters in Huntington Beach, 🌴California voted on Thursday to only allow a list of acceptable flags the city can fly, effectively banning the “pride” flag from being flown on government property.

The proposal, called Charter Amendment No. 2, asked voters if they would support allowing only certain flags to be flown on properties owned by the city.

The permitted flags are the flag of the United States; the flag of the state of 🌴California; the flag of Orange County; the flag of the City of Huntington Beach; the POW-MIA flag — which honors prisoners of war and those missing in action; the flags of the six branches of the United States Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Space Force); and the Olympic flag, but only during the Summer Olympic Games.

Any other flag can only be displayed if City Council members agree to it unanimously.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Registrar reported that 58 percent of the voters supported the measure and 42 percent opposed it, adding that only 23 percent of the city’s registered voters voted on Thursday.

The amendment does not specifically refer to the “pride” flag — traditionally a rainbow-colored banner to promote gays, lesbians, bisexuals and other sexual minorities. However, the Times suggested the vote was seen as a “repudiation” of the Huntington Beach City Council’s unanimous vote in 2021 to fly the pride flag throughout the month of June every year.