Residents of Barrhead, Alberta, have voted to ban Pride flags and rainbow crosswalks on municipal property.
The move follows a similar trend seen in other Alberta towns like Westlock, where a plebiscite also resulted in the banning of Pride flags and decorative crosswalks.
The vote in Barrhead, which is about 120 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, saw about 57% of the residents supporting the “neutrality bylaw” which restricts the town to flying only national, provincial, and municipal flags and painting crosswalks in standard white stripes.
This bylaw was initiated after a group, Barrhead Neutrality, successfully gathered signatures for a petition that met the requirements under the Alberta Municipal Government Act.
The debate around these bans reflect a broader conversation in Alberta and Canada about the role of local governments in promoting “inclusivity” by raising a flag that implies 5-year-olds can be transgender and biological men can dominate a women’s sports league or use their changerooms as long as they identify as a woman.
On Monday, the mayor of Emo, Ontario, Harold McQuaker, stated that he will not pay a $5,000 fine imposed by the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal for refusing to fly the Pride flag at his town hall.
This fine was part of a larger penalty, where the township itself was also fined $10,000 for not proclaiming June as Pride Month and for not displaying an LGBTQ2 rainbow flag.
Mayor McQuaker said that he views the fine as an act of “extortion” and has refused to comply with the tribunal’s order for him to undergo LGBTQ training as well.
