The Dent County Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to rescind their Monday morning order to fly the flags at the Dent County Courthouse and Judicial Building at below half-staff in protest to the June 26 Supreme Court ruling that gay people have the constitutional right to marriage.
The commission voted Monday to lower flags on the 26th day of the month from July 26, 2015 to June 26, 2016 in protest to the June 26 ruling that gay couples have the constitutional right to marriage.
“I’ve had a lot of personal one-on-one dialogue with members of the military,” Skiles told The Salem News Tuesday morning via telephone. “It’s a mixed bag, some support it (flag lowering) and others find it extremely offensive, and that was not our goal at all.”
Word spread quickly across the internet Monday of the commission’s flag lowering action.
National news publications such as the Huffington Post, Buzzfeed and Talking Points Memo carried the story, as well as statewide web sites.
Among the veterans who were upset by the actions of the commission was Salem resident Jimmy Cotner, who served in the Navy.
“My reaction is they are doing it (rescinding the flag lowering) not because they want to, but because they are thinking of the next election,” Cotner told The Salem News Tuesday. “They would not be doing it if the public outcry were not so great. I think it speaks to a more enlightened mindset in our country. The old guard is dying off and the next generation won’t allow such bigotry.”
The news spread quickly via Facebook, with a majority of users voicing protest, while a smaller number applauded the actions of the commissioners.
Alex Sellers of Salem was among those who first read the news via Facebook.
Sellers created a petition online which gathered over a thousand signatures mere hours after being posted calling for the commission to rescind their flag lowering order.
Upon being notified of the commission’s plans to rescind the order, Sellers said “I am relieved our democratic system worked. The outcry of the public was appropriate and our representatives took responsibility accordingly. The reasons they cited were noble, but they did not include all the reasons most people would have wanted.”
Salem High School alum Jacob Wilson was among the gay natives of Salem who felt the commission’s actions created a hostile environment for local members of the LBGT community.
“I am disheartened,” Wilson said. “It is kind of crazy when you see all the progress taking place across the country and amongst my friends and family, and then to see this happen back home. It’s a stark reminder of all the work that needs to be done.”
Wilson informed The Salem News Tuesday that in reaction to the commission’s actions he is forming a scholarship fund for Salem High School students who want to work toward creating positive change for members of identity groups such as the LGBT community who face discrimination.
The commission voted unanimously on the motion Monday saying they would lower the flags for one year of “mourning” on the monthly anniversary of the Supreme Court’s June 26 decision that gay couples have the constitutional right to marriage.
The vote came after Skiles filed a letter into the public record protesting, “the U.S. high court’s stamp of approval of what God speaks of as an abomination.”
The letter details Skiles’ opposition to gay marriage and proposes lowering of the flags so “all who see these flags at this lowered position be reminded of this despicable Supreme Court travesty,” he wrote.
Dent County issued its first marriage license in accordance with this ruling to Jimmy and Gary Cotner July 1. The commission has not specifically called for the Cotners to be stripped of their license, and when asked if such action should be taken Monday, Skiles said “it puts a person in a very tough position.”
Dent County has no plans to stop issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, according to Skiles’ letter.
“We as elected officials have no choice but to conduct business in accordance with established law,” the letter says. “We do not possess the luxury of cherry picking which laws we agree with and choose to uphold, and which laws we choose to reject and ignore. But! We can express our strong disapproval of blatant judicial overreach.”
During discussion of the motion, First District Commissioner Dennis Purcell said he agreed with the lowering of the flags 100 percent and feared polygamy soon would be allowed as a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Second District Commissioner Gary Larson said those supporting gay marriage are “mixed up in the head” and that the flags should be lowered because gay marriage represents, “death to a part of our freedom.” Larson also said he was “tired of minority groups like gays getting whatever they want even when they are only two percent of the population and the majority of people do not want it.”
Much of the opposition to the flag lowering order was due to violations of the United States Flag Code. Flags are to be flown half-staff only to mourn the loss of active duty service members and designated governmental leaders, according to the code. The flag is also to be flown half-staff on designated holidays honoring fallen veterans and public servants such as Peace Officers Memorial Day, May 15; Patriots Day, Sept. 11; and Memorial Day until noon, at which point it is to be raised to full staff, per the code.
Skiles had volunteered to lower the flags himself July 26 and noted the flags would not be lowered to half-staff, as that position should be reserved for mourning the death of service members. Instead, in mourning gay marriage, the flags were to be pulled down lower, to below half-staff.
Flying the flags lower than half-staff was what was particularly offensive to veterans, according to Cotner.
“I was more offended as a veteran than a gay man at what they were doing,” Cotner said. “To desecrate the flag of our country and those who fought and died for it is disgusting. I am more hurt they are using our flag as an instrument of hate than I am to be a victim of that hate, and to think it’s just because they don’t like gay people such as myself.”