DUBLIN — Following public outcry, Dublin City Council agreed Tuesday night to fly the rainbow pride flag over its city hall after all, backtracking on a decision it made last month.

In a 5-0 vote at the special meeting, the council agreed to fly the flag for the month of June, through July 3. The flag was hung immediately on Tuesday night, beneath the Dublin city flag.

With a vote of 5-0, the Dublin City Council elected to fly the Pride flag through July 3. The flag was raised tonight and hangs beneath the City flag. pic.twitter.com/U8zTtWsKfB — City of Dublin (@DublinPIO) June 5, 2019

Last month, the council had decided not to fly the flag, agreeing with some members of the public that spoke at the meeting that if the city flew the flag for the LGBTQ community, it would be a “slippery slope” to fly other flags. Some suggested flags to be flown from businesses or the National Rifle Association, religious groups or other countries in public comment.

But Mayor David Haubert told this news organization last week that he was swayed into changing his mind after a discussion with Emeryville Councilman John Bauters, who is gay, who told him about the sensitivity of the issue with the LGBTQ community. Bauters declared that Emeryville would fly a second flag in honor of Dublin, which its council also agreed to do on Tuesday.

“No LGBTQ rights would not have been won if not for the changed hearts and minds of our allies,” said Dublin Councilman Shawn Kumagai in an interview. “I’m glad they were able to move forward and we got it right.”

An official flag-raising ceremony will be held on June 22, when the current flag is swapped out for the gifted flag from the city of Emeryville, the councilman said.

Kumagai, the city’s first openly gay elected councilman, triggered the May 21 debate when he urged his colleagues to issue a proclamation declaring June as LGBTQ pride month on behalf of the town’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning/queer community and asked that a rainbow flag be allowed to wave above city hall to mark the occasion.

Although council members agreed to the proclamation, they voted 3-2 against flying the flag, with the mayor, Vice Mayor Melissa Hernandez and Councilman Arun Goel voting no.

During the meeting, some speakers who spoke against flying the flag said that although the town is diverse and inclusive, displaying a rainbow flag could be “confusing” for children or be viewed as promoting a specific political agenda.

Related Articles Another East Bay city may fly rainbow flag for Dublin after council’s rejection

No rainbow pride flag will be waving at Dublin City Hall One man said he heard there was talk about adding a “P” to the LGBTQ acronym to stand for “pedophile,” and was against flying the flag.

In response to the council’s action last month, Kumagai said there was a grassroots effort online and in social media to get Dublin residents to raise their own rainbow flags and organize support of the LGBTQ community. Congressman and Democratic presidential candidate Eric Swalwell, a former Dublin councilman, also joined in and posted a tweet showing a rainbow flag on his office door in Washington, D.C.

I fly these flags 365 days a year. pic.twitter.com/MsI1uQzDZ0 — Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) May 24, 2019

Besides Dublin, other East Bay cities that have agreed to fly the rainbow flag on municipal property recently include Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Richmond, Concord and Pleasant Hill. Pittsburg will draft a flag policy before it considers flying a LGBTQ flag.