STEVE MARTIN: On flags and pronouns

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On Monday the City Council will consider a proposal to mandate Board and Commission members display their preferred pronouns during meetings and replace the Rainbow flags with Progress flags.

While I certainly empathize with the City Council’s desire to increase West Hollywood’s well earned reputation for inclusivity, I would suggest that perhaps the Council use Monday’s meeting as the start of a conversation toward consensus building rather than move precipitously forward.

Back when I served on the City Council, a colleague, Jeff Prang, introduced a measure that would mandate that all Board and Commission members be registered to vote. While some thought this was just common sense, others thought it was mostly a solution in search of a problem.

Ultimately John Heilman and I expressed concerns about the civil liberties of people we appoint to Boards and Commissions. While none of the Council members were aware of any appointee who was not registered to vote, it did occur to us that some individuals may have very sincere and closely held objections to voting as a form of political protest. In short, not voting can be a form of legitimate political speech and Heilman and I were able to have this proposal tabled. There is value in giving people a choice.

While I totally support the proposal that Board and Commission members participate in sensitivity training on the pronoun issue as everyone needs to be sensitive to harmful social assumptions regarding gender identity. This sort of training is becoming increasingly common in the private sector.

While I am not certain of Monday’s proposal on mandating pronoun identification is necessarily a solution in search of a problem, I would point out that Commission and Board members who feel strongly about this issue are in fact posting their pronouns which the public can clearly see. Perhaps after sensitivity training the number of appointees posting their pronouns would increase.

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But is it naïve to think that this proposal is simply about inclusivity? Among fractured Democratic Progressives the flaunting of pronouns is akin to flashing your gang sign; it is a proclamation of political allegiance.

It is unfortunate that within our highly factionalized political culture, that stating one’s pronouns has been politically weaponized, but it has.

So, my suggestion is that the Council move forward with the sensitivity training but then leave it to individual Commissioners and Board members to decide if they want to post their pronouns. If someone does not feel comfortable posting their pronouns, the City should not stigmatize them as transphobic.

In the battle for hearts and minds, sometimes you do better when you treat people like adults. Give them some space to make their own informed decisions. We decry the lack of choice as conservatives in Texas, Mississippi and Oklahoma have all but eliminated women’s control over their own bodies; we should be careful as to not appear to be doing the same thing with people’s minds.

As to replacing the Rainbow flags with the Progress flags I understand that this reflects a generational evolution in our thinking. No one wants to stand in the way of “progress”. No one wants to trivialize the struggles that trans and people of color have experienced or exclude them from recognition.

But for many of us who were there for the fights of our generation, the Rainbow flag symbolizes both pride and inclusivity as it was purposely designed to do. It is not like people are clinging to the Confederate battle flag. We are attached to the banner that represented our progress in the fight against AIDS, homophobia in the workplace and bans on gays in the military. There is nothing inherently exclusionary in that flag. Whatever the West Hollywood City Council decides, it does not diminish the Rainbow flag as a beloved and potent symbol of international standing.

In replacing the Rainbow Flag at the site of the 1991 Queer Encampment with the Progress flag, some may see a repudiation of our local history. But having known a number of the Queer Nationals who engaged in the historic hunger strike, they would probably embrace the new banner.

At the end of the day, can’t we all get along? Is there a compelling reason to replace all but one of the Rainbow flags on Santa Monica Boulevard with Progress flags and only fly the Progress flag during Pride? Can’t we proudly display both banners?

Come June, I will be marching with the Rainbow flag. If the City Council decides to remove all the Rainbow banners, that exile will only last until next January. By then we will have a new reconstituted City Council who will restore the balance and bring a much-needed sense of unity to West Hollywood.

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Joe Bologna
Joe Bologna
2 years ago

Thank you to the writer, Steve Martin, for presenting a smart think-piece that hits all the right notes and invites intelligent debate on this topic. Well done.

Tom
Tom
2 years ago

As far as I am concerned if you wish to put pronouns after your name then please feel free, but why do I have to? My lack of interest in doing so is not an indictment of you, while you forcing me to comply is both an indictment of me and an imposition.

Welcome All
Welcome All
2 years ago

Zenkiah Wright feels stabbed when “misgendered”. What will happen when the West Hollywood protective bubble is not available? What will happen when reaching beyond West Hollywood in the pursuit of political objectives? Isn’t creating obstacles for one’s self destructive for body and soul. Isn’t Weho promoting a false sense of security? Residents and folks seeking protection in the West Hollywood bubble seem to be pursuing a mirage. Can people in West Hollywood simply grow up, adjust their consciousness to inclusiveness in their mind which they purport to seek? And the inclusiveness asserted by the world beyond? Folks have conducted themselves… Read more »

36 year WeHo resident
36 year WeHo resident
2 years ago

Steve Martin, you totally flip flipped on this issue at the City Council meeting tonight. What happened? So disappointed, you do know the meetings are recorded, right?

Steve Martin
Steve Martin
2 years ago

I did not flip; did you notice that Sepi Shyne said that they sent out a “memo” to update the item to withdraw making pronouns mandatory.
All of you were responsible for this retreat. I was very clear that I never opposed the training and said we will “work” on the flag issue, which I doubt is going away. But be gracious in victory. You won the battle of the pronouns.

Randy
Randy
2 years ago
Reply to  Steve Martin

Indeed, Steve, you did not flip flop. There was no reason to, because it was already a moot point, by the time you got up to speak.

Last edited 2 years ago by Randy
Steve Martin
Steve Martin
2 years ago
Reply to  Randy

Thanks; I did not see a reason to beat a dead horse. The Council backed off claiming it was all a misunderstanding; so I gave them the benefit of the doubt.

Davedi
Davedi
2 years ago

Don’t forget while we are going flag crazy, We also need another flag that reminds everyone that “we are on stolen land.”

Gimmeabreak
Gimmeabreak
2 years ago
Reply to  Davedi

I could give you a history lesson here that would dispute that long-held notion but I doubt you would even consider it.

Ham Shipey
Ham Shipey
2 years ago

The only flags that should fly in WH……are the US, State and City flag. They represent us all.

Welcome All
Welcome All
2 years ago
Reply to  Ham Shipey

YES! One Nation indivisible with Liberty and Justice for All. 🇺🇸

Michael G Labarbera
Michael G Labarbera
2 years ago

Steve’s last paragraph is right on target!

WeHo Proud
WeHo Proud
2 years ago

I’ve always said that extreme tolerance wraps around the pendulum and hits the mark of intolerance. I think SHE has brought us there. When a society reaches tat point that’s when people start to lose rights and freedoms. This leaves room for a dictatorship. To be forced to state your personal pronoun? Not freedom. To voice out against a proposed law that can jeopardize are safety and be automatically a racist? That’s intolerance personified. WeHo can be in as much danger from the extra extreme left SHE as the rest of the country is in danger of the extreme right.… Read more »

Madness
Madness
2 years ago
Reply to  WeHo Proud

Extremes never survive without bringing catastrophe from their unbalanced ideas and behavior. Folks don’t seem to learn from history and always follow their unevolved egos. The lessons of the 20th century have taught us little beyond destruction, grieving and false promises.

LOL Weho
LOL Weho
2 years ago

The bottom line: “SHE/must/go”

J. Daniel Harrington-Tyrell
J. Daniel Harrington-Tyrell
2 years ago

Thoughtful and well said

Scott Sigman
Scott Sigman
2 years ago

What’s a Pronoun? I’m color blind, I don’t an opinions on any flag unless all yellow and blue
So many things are just unimportant to me. I can’t stand politics anymore. Just noise.
I can see yellow and blue flags, very important flags.

Gimmeabreak
Gimmeabreak
2 years ago

The Human Rights Campaign existed for one reason; to legalize gay marriage. When that goal was accomplished and their job was done they had $54 million left and nowhere to go with it. So they “created” the issue of trans rights to keep the money coming in. The HRC now has $67 million.

See how we’re being played? Follow the money!