Donald Trump has inspired much condemnation for his administration’s decision to prevent Pride Flags from flying at U.S. Embassies. For many surprised by the decision, there is no real recourse beyond deducing the President blocked them on social media.

There could not be a worse time for the decision considering the flag’s creator, Gilbert Baker, passed away in 2017. In 2019, the LGBTQ+ population is left to wonder whether the corporatization of the rainbow flag promotes the ideals Baker cooked into their colors.

Baker left the flag untrademarked for the exact purpose of mass reproduction.

But I have my own question.

Given that major corporations have been falling all over themselves to decorate whatever they can sell with the rainbow, why don’t more cities and states fly their Pride?

The state of Illinois just did it in 2019 for the first time, ever…

The state of California just did it in 2019 for the first time, ever…

When I heard that Dublin, California — home to approximately 68,000 — voted against raising the Pride Flag and then two weeks later reversed course, I had to find out more.

Original Photo Credit: Mercedes Mehling

On May 21st, 2019, the Dublin City Council unanimously passed a proclamation in support of Pride Month. It then voted against raising the Pride Flag by a vote of 3 to 2.

The next day, KTVU news reported on the topic live outside the city offices and social media quickly involved itself.

How bad were public statements in Dublin? Watch some for yourself:

You may find the full May 21, 2019, regular meeting here.

Twenty-five miles away, and after watching the Dublin meeting for himself, Emeryville Councilmember John Bauters had an idea: If Dublin would not vote to raise a Pride Flag for the month of June, perhaps Emeryville should vote to raise two: One for the LGBTQ+ population in Emeryville and the other for the LGBTQ+ population in Dublin.

“I saw harm taking place and I wanted to provide a positive space for those who did not feel seen or heard.” — John Bauters

But the decision to raise the second flag in Emeryville did not belong to Bauters alone. He would need to convince the Emeryville City Council to pass Resolution №19–60 in front of the attending public. It is a mouthful.

Emeryville, CA Resolution to Hang a Second Flag — Full Document Download Link

And the public would be attending. Especially after Bauters availed himself to local news outlets to inform them of his decision to ask Emeryville to pass his resolution precisely to encourage a further dialogue in Dublin.

Bauters told ABC News the impetus behind his actions, “It was really an opportunity in my mind to stop and think about how could we both help Dublin make progress and having that discussion. But also be there in solidarity and support to the members of the LGBT community [in Alameda County] and show them that we see them and we support them.”

ABC News anchor Reggie Aqui, in response to Bauters’ statement, shared his own interpretation of the meeting, “I didn’t hear anything from the councilmembers, other than [ Shawn Kumagai ] who was on the council, who proposed this. I didn’t hear anyone, including the mayor, denounce some of the, frankly, homophobic comments that were made by members of the public.”

This local media appeal was also not an act in isolation. Bauters relayed that he maintained an open dialogue with Dublin city council members about the Pride Flag and what it represented to the LGBTQ+ community since first hearing of their vote.

“The misconception about what I did, or why I did it, is that most people think it was in response to the Dublin City Council’s decision to not raise the flag… [It wasn’t]… What I saw were members of the public, on about a three-to-one ratio, saying very ignorant, bigoted, hateful things about the LGBT community and I saw a couple of members of the community who were at that meeting in support of the proposed flag raising… experiencing trauma.” — John Bauters

It was after his appearances on the local news that Bauters sat for the Emeryville City Council meeting on June 4th, 2019. Another city councilmember had pulled the resolution from the consent calendar — meaning they wanted to speak at the council meeting on the topic as opposed to agreeing to pass it in the group of other resolutions outright through a general vote.

But the grievance, as it turned out, was only procedural — the councilmember supported Bauters’ position and had only need to question the appeal to local media. Bauters gave an emotional speech where he explained the meaning behind the Pride Flag and defended its use at city hall. He further thanked the community of Emeryville for the opportunity to show support the LGBTQ+ members of Dublin.

The Emeryville City Council adopted the resolution 5 to 0.