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CITY COUNCIL MEETING. >> THAT GIVES ME A SENSE OF DISCRIMINATION THAT SOMEBODY’S NOT FOR EQUAL RIGHTS. REPORTER: MARK VELDER IS A PART-TIME CUSTODIAN FOR INDEPENDENCE AND LAST NIGHT HE LASHED OUT OVER A RAINBOW FLAG FLYING AT CITY HALL. >> I’M NORMAL. I’M NORMAL, SO I DON’T WANT THAT FLAG TO REPRESENT ME . >>O HE CERTAINLYRTER: ENTITLED TO HIS VIEWPOINT. REPORTER: MAYOR EILEEN WEIR SAYS WHEN COUNCIL VOTED AGAINST FLYING THE FLAG ON CITY BUILDINGS, SHE DECIDED TO PUT ONE OUTSIDE HER OFFICE. >> I FEEL VERY STRONGLY THAT WE HAVE ADOPTED NONDISCRIMINATION ORDINANCES IN OUR CITY AND I DON’T WANT THAT TO JUST BE A HOLLOW STATEMENT. REPORTER: WEIR SAYS EMPLOYEES HAVE NEVER BEEN PUNISHED OR ASKED TO TAKE DOWN OFFICE DISPLAYS. >> THE REAL REBEL ISN’T ME. IT’S WHOEVER KEEPS PUTTING THAT FLAG U ME AFTER HIS SPEECH, VELDER RECEIVED APPLAUSE FROM SOME IN ATTENDANCE. >> YOU’RE A FRIEND OF LGBT, YOU’RE AN ENEMY OF THE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. THANK YOU. [APPLAUSE] NENE HE’S SPOKEN TO COUNCIL 4 TIMES NOW. WEIRD SAYS HE’S PART OF A VOCAL MINORITY. >> THE RESPONSE FROM THE COMMUNITY HAS BEEN OVERWHELMINGLY POSIT

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Independence Mayor Eileen Weir is responding Tuesday after a city employee criticized her for flying the rainbow flag as a sign of support for Pride month.“That gives me a sense of discrimination, that somebody’s not for equal rights,” Mark Velder saidVelder is a part-time custodian for the city, and at a City Council meeting on Monday, he lashed out about the rainbow flag flying at City Hall. He brought two Confederate flags to make a point. “I’m normal,” Velder said. “I’m normal, so I don’t want that flag to represent me.”“He is certainly entitled to his viewpoint,” Weir said.Weir said that when the City Council voted against flying the rainbow pride flag on city buildings, she decided to put one outside her office as a show of support.“I feel very strongly that we have adopted nondiscrimination ordinances in our city, and I don’t want that to be just a hollow statement,” she said.Velder said during his speech that he believed he would be fired from his position with the city if he displayed a Confederate flag on the job. “I certainly don’t agree, obviously, with his viewpoint,” Weir said. “But I do agree that he has a right to express it.”Weir said employees have never been punished or asked to take down office displays.“The real rebel isn’t me. It’s whoever keeps putting that flag up,” Velder said.After his speech, Velder received applause from some in attendance.“You’re a friend of LGBT, you’re an enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ,” Velder said.Weir disagreed, saying, “I believe that our community feels that they are very welcomed and included."Velder has spoken to the council four times now. Weir said he’s part of a vocal minority.“The response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive,” she said.