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.”
Judi Fike, a Republican councilwoman in Groveland, Florida, has been reinstated to her seat after fellow council members suspended her over offensive social media posts targeting Black and LGBTQ communities. Fike, who was appointed in October 2024 to represent the city’s District 4, has filed a lawsuit challenging the suspension.
Fike’s attorney, Lake County Commissioner Anthony Sabatini -- a two-time congressional candidate with a history of pushing anti-LGBTQ legislation -- told the Orlando Sentinel that Fike was reinstated following a preliminary hearing on July 16.
A Philadelphia jury has convicted Akhenaton Jones, 41, of the gruesome 2020 murder of Dominique “Rem’mie” Fells, a 27-year-old transgender woman and freelance fashion designer whose dismembered body was found in the Schuylkill River. On June 16, Jones was found guilty of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, and possession of an instrument of crime, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. Fells and Jones were reportedly romantically involved at the time of her death.
Fells’ upper body was found floating in the Schuylkill River near Bartram’s Garden, a botanical garden in southwest Philadelphia, on June 8, 2020. Her torso had more than 40 stab wounds. Three days later, her legs were discovered in a trash bag along the riverbank.
State has 10 days to ban transgender athletes from girls’ teams or risk losing federal education funding, under a Title IX ultimatum from the Education Department.
The Trump administration has issued an ultimatum to the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation, demanding they ban transgender athletes from competing on girls' sports teams.
In a June 25 announcement, the U.S. Department of Education said California’s policy allowing transgender girls to compete on girls' teams violates Title IX, the 1972 law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in federally funded educational institutions.
The department also proposed a resolution requiring California to bar transgender athletes from girls' sports teams and revoke any records, titles, or awards they’ve received. It further calls on the state to send personalized apology letters to female athletes who were denied honors or recognition after being displaced by a transgender competitor.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.