In response to criticism from some residents over the hanging of rainbow-painted Pride flag banners along St. George Blvd., city officials say they want to reevaluate the legal code that allowed for them to go up.

The banners, attached to city light posts ahead of Saturday's Pride of Southern Utah festival, have driven a week of sometimes nasty social media exchanges between residents in the socially conservative Utah city.

Debates have raged online for more than a week over everything from the history of the LGBTQ movement to the meaning of the rainbow flag to whether the flags could fall under First Amendment protections.

Now, interviews with city officials suggest unanimous interest in pursuing an ordinance that could limit the types of signage hung from city-owned property.

A Facebook post

An email from Councilwoman Michele Randall to a local attorney was shared on social media in the days after the flags went up. In the email, which Randall later said was shared without her knowledge, she said she was unhappy with the banners and that "We, as a city council, need to look at our (banner) ordinance and see what can be done to prevent political statements from being made in the future.”

The attorney, local conservative activist and former U.S. Senate candidate Larry Meyers, received about 300 comments on the post, which prompted Randall to post her own response on her Facebook page.

"I think of myself as pretty open minded," she wrote. "I have members of my family that are gay, transgender, alcoholics, addicts, atheists, divorced, been in abusive relationships, etc. ... I am not homophobic. I am not racist. I am not a bigot. I believe everyone has a right to feel love and be accepted."

She continued that some see the Pride of Southern Utah Banners and believe St. George is an inclusive city, "but all they need to do is get on social media and quickly find hatred and division."

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Randall also wrote that she doesn't want to see "straight pride" banners, "Trump Pride" banners or "any banners for any special interest or political group" hanging from city poles.

"I want everyone to feel safe and accepted in our community. I don’t feel the banners are sending that message," she wrote. "I want to see our policy changed, not because of the Pride banners but for any and all future banners that cause the community to spew hatred, divisiveness and discontent."

Randall declined to comment for this story, referring to her Facebook post as her official comment.

Mayor Jon Pike said the banner policy "ought to be looked at" because it likely predates anyone currently serving on the council and his 12 years of public service.

He also said he doesn't want hate groups to be able to hang banners simply because the city ordinance doesn't stop them from doing so.

Pike clarified that though he doesn't believe Pride of Southern Utah is promoting hate in any way, "it’s worthwhile to make sure that in the future, we don’t have unintended consequences in terms of what kinds of events are being promoted on city property.”

In a post on his personal Facebook page, Pike also expressed his support for Pride Week and for the discussion happening in St. George regarding Pride of Southern Utah's banners.

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"I realize we’re not all in the same place or of the same opinion on these or many other issues," he wrote. "But I view these banners and the rainbow flags ... as a celebration of all people and of acceptance, inclusion and love. We’ll still have differences. We won’t understand everything. But I hope we can agree on one thing: People are awesome!"

The post had 1,500 comments as of late Thursday. Some express support and admiration for Pike and the LGBTQ community, while others say the banners are political and don't reflect what the community believes.

A healthy discussion?

Pike said he created the post to explain why he thinks the discussion surrounding the banners and Pride of Southern Utah has been a good thing.

"I think it’s good... for people to understand what’s going on in our community and what events are going on and so forth," he said.

He also encouraged people to be respectful and civil while discussing any topic, and to speak to people online the same way they'd speak to them in person.

Councilwoman Bette Arial said she needs to look at what the current policy is, but she thought that groups used to be required to have city council approval before hanging banners.

She also acknowledged leaving a comment on Randall's Facebook post that said, "City sponsored banners only — problem solved," though she said she's removed the comment.

“I just thought city-sponsored flags would be good since the city owns those poles," she said. "When tax dollars are involved, when the city is paying for it, then city activities should be the ones that are put up."

She said she understands that Pride of Southern Utah paid a fee for the banners to go up, but the poles themselves are still city property.

Councilman Jimmie Hughes said the policy should be looked at to make sure that the banners are being used in a way that's appropriate to the entire community.

"We probably should have seen this coming. It’s just never happened before," he said.

He also said this might lead to no banners at all being hung on St. George Boulevard, and the council will look at the issue more when the heat of the situation has died down.

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Councilman Ed Baca said he wholeheartedly supports First Amendment freedoms such as freedom of speech, and believes most St. George citizens do as well, but "frankly, I am not sure that the gay pride issue of placing banners on city-owned poles should be accepted or determined to mean that the city government is in agreement or supportive of their lifestyle. Nor do we believe that taxpayer dollars should be used in support of their expression."

He said it would be appropriate to review the policy that regulates use of city-owned poles, and to adopt policy wording that will result in fair, respectful treatment of all citizens. Limiting the use of poles to city-sponsored events, he said, may be the appropriate solution.

He added that work remains to be done to improve understanding of LGBTQ issues.

"The LGBTQ community exists and is part of the American fabric," he said. "I don't think I know of anyone whose life has not been touched in some way by what is taking place."

St. George currently has four council members. Councilman Joe Bowcutt passed away on Aug. 31.

Pride director: City has been supportive

Pride of Southern Utah director Stephen Lambert said the organization is "extremely grateful" to the city for all they've done; he also said in his three years as director of Pride of Southern Utah, the city has been nothing but helpful and supportive.

"We are deeply grateful that we were able to put the banners up this year, and we understand there’s a bigger picture here, and we will support them in any of those decisions that they make," he said, "Unfortunately I believe that there are special interest groups and perhaps political groups that spew a different message than the love that we want to share … We just understand and support the bigger picture."

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