Pride Flag – Photo: Sophie Popplewell via Unsplash
The Missoula City Council has drawn the ire of Republicans — including Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte — by sidestepping a state ban on Pride flags through a resolution declaring the LGBTQ Pride flag as an official city flag.
On June 2, the council voted 9-2 in favor of the resolution. According to city attorney Ryan Sudbury, speaking to Missoula-based NBC affiliate KECI, the city previously had no official flag.
“Currently, there is only one official flag for the City of Missoula, and that’s the Pride flag adopted last night. There was no prior official flag,” Sudbury told the news station.
The resolution was passed in direct response to a new law signed by Gov. Greg Gianforte on May 13. The measure, approved by the Republican-led Montana Legislature, bans flags on state property — including public schools — that express a “political viewpoint, including but not limited to flags or banners regarding a political party, race, sexual orientation, gender or political ideology.”
However, the law includes exceptions for “official historical flags” such as the Gadsden flag and the Confederate flag. It also permits flags honoring law enforcement — like the “Thin Blue Line” flag — as well as military service flags and the POW/MIA flag. Flags of tribal nations, foreign countries, and official flags of counties, cities, or localities are also allowed — a loophole Missoula is using to sidestep the ban.
The council’s vote mirrors similar actions by the city governments of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Boise, Idaho, which have also worked around statewide Pride flag bans.
Ward 1 Councilmember Jennifer Savage, who sponsored the resolution, cited her daughter — a member of the LGBTQ community — as a key reason for introducing it. She added that the city may adopt additional official flags in the future.
“When I see the pride flag, I breathe a little sigh of relief and think my kid is safe here,” she said.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, fourth-grade teacher Petrea Torma spoke about Montana’s flag ban and how she was forced to remove a Pride flag from her classroom. She argued that the ban sends an implicit message to students that some people are not welcome or accepted.
“They have seen my flag up in my classroom all year, and last Friday, they had to walk in and realize that it’s gone,” Torma said.
Gov. Greg Gianforte later issued a statement blasting the liberal-leaning city council.
“[N]ine members of the Missoula City Council made clear their top priority is flying a divisive pride flag over government buildings and schools — all while ignoring the city’s housing affordability crisis, raising taxes by 17% because of overspending, and refusing to take firm action to end encampments in the city,” the governor said in a statement. “Missoulians deserve better, and fortunately, two council members voted against imposing this divisive, far-left agenda on their community.”
State Rep. Braxton Mitchell (R–Columbia Falls), who sponsored the Pride flag ban and has previously introduced anti-LGBTQ legislation — including a drag ban currently blocked by the courts — has already threatened to amend the law in the next legislative session to explicitly prohibit cities from naming Pride flags as official flags.
“Leave it to Missoula to try and turn a city flag into a pride flag. Nothing says ‘unity’ like politicizing public property,” Mitchell told KECI in an email. “The ultra far left Missoula City Council and their mayor are completely out of touch with reality and the values of the vast majority of Montanans.
“Taxpayer owned property should represent everyone, not just the loudest political movements of the moment. The pride flag, like any other political symbol, has no place replacing a city’s identity,” Mitchell continued. “This is exactly why we resoundingly passed HB819 to stop governments from hijacking public property to push ideology…. If they want to fly that flag, they can do it at home, not on the taxpayer’s pole.”
Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer has signed an executive order protecting transgender individuals from having their medical or personal information shared with out-of-state authorities seeking to prosecute them for obtaining gender-affirming care.
Meyer signed the order last Friday at the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center, surrounded by LGBTQ advocates and activists.
The order prohibits Delaware state agencies from cooperating with out-of-state investigations targeting anyone who provides, receives, or assists others in obtaining legal gender-affirming care, such as hormone therapy or puberty blockers. It also bars agencies from sharing medical records, billing data, or personal information about anyone involved in such care.
The ruling in Tennessee’s gender-affirming care case could unravel key legal wins for transgender Americans as lower courts are told to take another look.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered lower federal courts to revisit pro-transgender rulings after siding with Tennessee in a 6-3 decision upholding the state’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors.
In its June 30 ruling, the Court found the law did not discriminate based on sex or transgender status -- and while it did not address other laws affecting transgender Americans, it opened the door for states to impose even broader restrictions on transgender rights and legal protections.
As reported by CNN, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Amy Coney Barrett wrote in concurring opinions that courts should not be required to closely scrutinize laws alleged to discriminate against transgender people.
Tammy Baldwin, Angie Craig, and Mark Pocan were among the Democrats named by the alleged shooter, a right-wing pastor with a history of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.
At least three out LGBTQ Democrats in Congress have been told their names appeared on a list kept by Vance Boelter -- a right-wing preacher suspected of shooting two Minnesota state lawmakers, killing one.
The LGBTQ lawmakers -- Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and U.S. Reps. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) -- were among several dozen Democrats at all levels of government whose names appeared on Boelter’s alleged "hit list."
Boelter is accused of killing Minnesota Democratic State Rep. Melissa Hortman (Brooklyn Park) and her husband at their home on June 14, and of shooting Democratic State Sen. John Hoffman (Champlin) and his wife at their home. Hoffman and his wife are expected to recover.
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