Carlsbad rejects measure to fly LGBTQ and other commemorative flags at City Hall
CARLSBAD (KUSI) – Carlsbad City Council voted down a measure to fly the LGBTQ flag at City Hall year round.
The measure failed with a 3-2 vote.
The measure would have allowed all kinds of commemorative flags to fly at City Hall, including the Pride flag.
Mayor Keith Blackburn and City Councilmember Melanie Burkholder were the dissenting votes, as they believe this would raise the possibility of having to allow other flags from “fringe groups” to fly at City Hall.
Thursday, Carlsbad Mayor Keith Blackburn discussed the measure (above), and why he opposed it, with KUSI’s Paul Rudy on Good Morning San Diego. Blackburn told Rudy about some advice he received earlier in his career, which was, “what you do for one group, be prepared to do for another.”
Blackburn elaborated, explaining, “when we looked at changing our flag policy to allow special flags, or commemorative flags, I learned that there is an awful lot of flags out there.”
Wednesday, Carlsbad City Councilmember Melanie Burkholder explained (below) explained that her vote had nothing to do with LGBT rights. Burkholder said the flag of the United States of America is the most inclusive flag of all the commemorations.
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