VACAVILLE, Calif. — A Vacaville LGBTQ+ group and community members are frustrated city officials haven't yet issued a proclamation recognizing June as Pride Month with days to go until the start of the month.
The Solano Pride Center says Vacaville Mayor John Carli is the cause of the delay and accuses him of refusing to fly the Pride flag above city hall, something he disputes.
The mayor and members of the Solano Pride Center met Wednesday to discuss the proclamation of acknowledgment, but Carli says the proclamation he was given was “different from those that the prior mayor issued” and recent court rulings led him to consult with legal counsel before making a decision or taking action.
“Confronted with these changes and a recent Supreme Court case related to flags on government property, I advised that I would need to connect with members of our legal team seeking clarity and anticipating resolution prior to the end of May,” said Carli in a statement to ABC10.
The United States Supreme Court case he’s referring to is Shurtleff v. City of Boston, a case asking if a city, in this case Boston, can refuse to fly a private religious organization’s flag on city flagpoles or if the refusal violates the First Amendment.
The court ruled because the city had not previously rejected flags and had exercised little to no control over flag content, it was not government speech and “that refusal discriminated based on religious viewpoint and violated the Free Speech Clause,” according to then Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer who wrote the opinion.
Vacaville does not have any clause or guidelines for what flags can be flown over city hall.
The Solano Pride Center says if the city doesn't make the proclamation, it would be the only one in Solano County not recognizing June as Pride Month.
“Now more than ever, LGBTQ rights across the U.S. are under assault,” said center spokesperson Sarah White in a statement. “At this inflection point in our nation's struggle for LGBTQ equality, it is unfortunate Mayor Carli has decided to move Vacaville in the wrong direction by not standing in solidarity with the LGBTQ community.”
The center says it will still hold the 3rd annual Vacaville Pride event on June 3 from 12-4 p.m. in Andrews Park at 614 E Monte Vista Ave.
Carli says the city is and has been one who “acknowledges and celebrates our diversity, inclusive to all who wish to be a member of our wonderful community.”
Vacaville’s city attorney was not readily available for comment Friday night.
