Tuesday September 12, 2023, the council of the Municipality of Barrington heard a presentation to ban the use of Pride flags on the ‘community flagpole’, a flagpole separate from the municipal flagpole intended to bring awareness and support to marginalized communities. Interested members of the public on both sides of this issue turned up in large numbers.
The request to council, made by Barrington resident Christy Conrad, was attached to the meeting’s agenda posted publicly on the Barrington Municipal Council website and proved to be a rallying point for the Nova Scotia 2SLGBTQIA+ community and allies.
Ms. Conrad’s application states:
“Allegedly, to many people the rainbow flag represents aversion or hostility of Christianity, a radical ideology being pushed into schools and businesses, loss of religious liberty and forced celebration of sexual perversion. This is seen over and over in the news as we see more and more communities standing up against this radical theology, such as Drag Queen book reading being cancelled and LGBTQ flags being taken down across North America.”
That document, although now removed from the Council website, can be read here.
The text of the request was replaced at some point after Sunday September 10. Ms Conrad stated during her presentation that she was contacted 6 hours before the meeting and told to reword her presentation. It was contextually clear that she was told to edit the presentation due to the presence of hate speech, and she is also on the record as having said that “there’s things I would have liked to say but I was told I’m not allowed to.”
Current Warden of the Barrington council, Eddie Nickerson, told those in attendance that no decision would be made that night and that council was not obligated to consult with the community on policy changes. Of note, Eddie Nickerson was part of Council when it responded to the public outcry about activist Eric Smith’s HIV status becoming public by “ask[ing] the provincial government to ban not only gay teachers, but gay students from school as well. While the proposal didn’t get too far, it helped send a message to those members of the gay community living in the area.” (Eric Smith, April 20, 2022)
NSGEU Local President (and Southwest Nova Pride board member) Lynette Hayward-Byrd (pictured second from the right in her NSGEU shirt) was one of the Yarmouth allies in attendance last night. She said she was shocked by the proceedings: “As a straight ally I felt the 2SLGBTQIA+ community who is already oppressed was even more oppressed last night. They were not given a chance to voice their concerns. Even the councillor who was trying to fight for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community was shot down and not given the opportunity to express his concerns.”
Many of the 2SLGBTQ+ community members expressed that their issue was not with the flag policy or potential changes to the policy, but with the language being used in support of that application and the clear targeting of the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Councillor Shaun Hatfield pointed out that the only time the community flagpole becomes an “issue” is when a flag from the 2SLGBTQ+ community is flown. Other flags flown on the community flagpole since 2019 include: the National Indigenous History Month Flag, Access Awareness Week Flag, and the Shelburne County Strong Firefighter’s Flag. Councillor Hatfield asked how many other applications Council received to use the flagpole and if there were any competing applications. CAO Chris Frotten did not have that information available.
It is important to note that, in the words of lawyer Kym Sweeny, “Municipalities only have power as vested in them by provincial legislation. Provincial and Federal Human Rights legislation applies to municipal governments and their actions, which includes protection for individuals based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.”
This conversation isn’t over: if anything, it’s just beginning.
May 6th was a beautiful sunny day in Yarmouth, and the rainbow was out in its full, beautiful colours when an important queer elder came to town. The Southwest Nova Pride Association couldn’t have hoped for a better day to host Martin Boyce, Stonewall Riot activist, as part of his ‘Courage to Stand Up’ tour with International Day of Pink (funded by the US Embassy). Equally sunny was our opening act, with local singers (some 
Martin noted that, when he was young, he only had older queer people to educate him about what it meant to be gay and part of the community. Nowadays, younger people have the internet and so many more resources, he pointed out. But it was abundantly clear that everyone in Beacon Hall with us realised the echoes there and how important it was to speak with an important queer elder. Jaden Silva, SWNPA board member, commented, “As a young queer person, it was incredible to hear that people my own age made such a difference not so long ago. Listening to Martin describe rebellion with the sassy wit and acerbic tenderness our community is known for made me newly proud to fly the colors.”
