STEVE MARTIN: On flags and pronouns

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.

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.