Darien Selectmen Postpone Policy On Displaying Of Flags

DARIEN, CT — Over 30 members of the community filled room 206 in Darien Town Hall on Monday night to object to a proposed draft policy on the displaying of flags in town.

The Board of Selectmen was planning on discussing and possibly taking action on the policy, but instead voted unanimously to table the item to allow for more time to examine the issue.

The public comment of Monday's meeting featured several speakers who said the draft policy targeted the LGBT community and specifically the displaying of the Pride flag.

The draft policy states that Darien wants to establish a "town-wide policy which follows the United States and State of Connecticut provisions governing the display of flags, including the United States flag, the state flag and the town flag on town-owned buildings and properties, excluding those under the care, custody and control of the Board of Education."

David Martin, a member of the Board of Finance, spoke as an individual and said a flag policy should reflect the town's community values statement that was approved earlier this summer

Included in the values statement was the sentence: We value equity, fairness, inclusivity and dignity for all. Martin said the current iteration of the flag policy is inconsistent with that.

Bobby Callagy, a Darien student, said the first Darien Pride event in June served as a way to show the young people of Darien and the LGBT community that they were supported and accepted. Now, he said, that feeling of acceptance is in jeopardy because of the proposed flag policy.

Dan Guller, chair of Darien Pride, asked the selectmen a simple question: who are we as a community?

"The proposed display of flags policy as written would ban flying the pride flag on town property, denying our queer youth the comfort of knowing that they are supported and accepted by Darien's leaders. Is that who we are?" Guller said. "We've said that flying these flags was our opportunity to show our queer youth that the grownups have their backs. Darien Pride is unwavering in our commitment to them. We ask the board of selectmen to show the same commitment by rejecting the proposed policy."

Abigail Hornstein, a member of the Darien Democratic Town Commttee, said the flag policy as written discriminates against the idea of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and the American Dream.

After nearly 40 minutes of remarks, First Selectman Monica McNally pushed back on the notion that the proposed flag policy takes aim at the Pride flag and the LGBT community.

"I appreciate all of the Pride people coming out tonight and joining in this discussion, but this really has nothing to do with the Pride flag," McNally said. "I can see where you would feel that this was somehow targeted for you, but you couldn't be more wrong."

McNally said the idea for a policy came in March of this year when a resident asked to fly the Ukrainian flag at Town Hall following Russia's invasion of the country.

Since Darien does not have a flag policy, McNally said she wrote an email to her fellow board members about the situation, and told her staff to look at other towns for direction on a policy. The draft policy is based off that research, she said.

"This came about because I was put in a situation where I had to make a really hard call," McNally said. She asked when is the right time to take down a flag? What would happen if there's competition to raise different flags at the same time?

"How do you determine that? You determine it with a policy," McNally said. "I don't want to sit in the First Selectman's Office and make this decision on my own. I want a flag policy that's generated by our board of selectmen and have full buy-in there."

McNally and town attorney Wayne Fox mentioned a recent Supreme Court decision in which the court said the city of Boston violated the First Amendment when it refused to fly a religious flag after allowing numerous other flags to fly at city hall. Boston had no flag policy at the time.

"Without a policy, we leave the town unprotected against lawsuits," McNally said.

"The Supreme Court is not saying that there is a problem with the expression of flags. What they're saying is the city of Boston did not take enough care in creating their policy," added Selectman Michael Burke.

McNally did not mention a timeline of when another proposed flag policy could come back before the board. She said the discussion will continue.

"We need a flag policy. We need to think it through carefully, but we do need to address this."