Dear Larry,
Please know that I fully understand that many in our community are angry and disappointed in the City, as well as me and my colleagues, for the lowering of flags for Charlie Kirk, a right-wing conservative, whose rhetoric was the antithesis of the City of West Hollywood’s core values and culture. I too am angry and disappointed. However, the City has a flag-lowering policy, and a policy is not something you can change on the fly because you don’t like how it is applied — because then you have to have a much larger conversation about City policies in general — and who or what can make them “null and void.”
Also, community members have asked me why we had to lower the Pride and Trans flags. The Flag Code states, “no other flag can be flown higher than the US flag, with the significant exception of the United Nations flag at the UN Headquarters, and the church pennant at sea. Within the United States, the US flag should always be at the highest point and at the center of any group of flags displayed from staffs.” I suppose we could have removed the Pride and Trans flags to avoid lowering them, but that could have also been misinterpreted.
Below is the Official City Statement on the Lowering of Flags, posted on Sunday, September 14, 2025. While I may have used the word “outrage” rather than “concern,” I believe the statement gets the point across… we hear you, we are not happy with what our policy dictated, and we will be looking at that policy through a wider lens of awareness that our country has changed and we have to anticipate situations that might conflict with our City’s core values and culture.
Official City Statement on the Lowering of Flags
There has been concern in the community during the past several days regarding the City of West Hollywood lowering its flags in response to a Presidential proclamation ordering a nationwide lowering of flags after the killing of Charlie Kirk.
The City’s action should not be interpreted as an expression of alignment with, or endorsement of, Mr. Kirk’s political views or actions. Rather, the action was undertaken in accordance with the City’s Policy for Recognitions and Memorials, which acknowledges that the City follows the direction of the President in determining when flags in the City are flown at half-staff.
The discussion that has emerged within the community about when and whether the City should follow established policy is important. The City values this dialogue, and we recognize the importance of ensuring that community values are reflected in the City’s actions.
In the coming weeks, the West Hollywood City Council will discuss this matter and will consider updates to the City’s policy regarding the lowering of flags to ensure that it appropriately reflects the values of the West Hollywood community.
[…] Information office chimed in with this statement and Council member Lauren Meister issued her statement on the Kirk matter. […]
It’s about freedom of speech..freedom to debate ideas and beliefs. Bedrock of our democracy. Lowering the flags to honor a fellow citizen who was assassinated while exercising one of our most cherished freedoms. That’s what is honored when the flags were lowered. Not necessary the person..but the courage of a fellow citizen to stand up and express themselves and for doing so was silenced. Whether it’s a republican, democrat, progressive, conservative, man, woman, doesn’t matter. We MUST stand up for freedom of expression or we’re all doomed. Yesterday it was Kirk…tomorrow it can be anyone who thinks differently than him.
We build a memorial to Matthew Shepard who died at the hands of two guys who had sex for pay because of a drug deal gone bad. Shepard trafficked drugs across state lines. And he was the kind of gay guy who openly groped straight men.
Our hero!
I love the often heroic Lauren Meister. Standing up against the indecent.
Since when does West Hollywood follow the rules? That’s why we live here. Wake up city council.
Certainly most here don’t follow the rules of common decency. It’s truly the most bizarre city in the country……and not in a good way.
He was not decent. He deserves no such recognition. Meister is a Jew lowering the flag to half mast to honor a Nazi. No. Not acceptable.
That is a bit harsh. It was apparently a Council consensus to go along with the Presidential order as that has always been the City’s practice. While I am not in favor of lowering the flag, I will cut the City Council some slack. The fact that Lauren would stick her neck out to explain the City Council’s decision says a lot about her character.
Ah…the ole lefty cry of he’s a Nazi!. Dehumanize everyone you disagree with by equating them with the SS. And we wonder why the left is so violent of late. Easy to justify shooting someone in the throat in front of his wife and children when he’s portrayed as less than human.
You’re showing your own ignorance.
You’re part of the problem.
Then gtf out of here, pork chop
This from the Creative City. Weho was founded on the principles of freedom to be who you are authentically. We celebrated the first mayor walking into Barney’s Beanery and removing the hate sign: no faggots allowed and yet 40 years later we follow the rules and lower all flags for a neo Nazi hate monger that has called for LGBTQ+ to be stoned. Lauren Meister, you’ve lost your way, if you think a flag code trumps morals, values and humanity for one another. Meister, you need to resign immediately.
CHARLIE NEVER EVEN CAME CLOSE TO CALLING FOR ANY LGBTQ TO BE STONED!!!!!
Where do you get this stuff?
People that never listened to him are the ones throwing out all this crazy crap. He was never disrespectful to anyone. Welcomed LGBTQ to the republican side. I’ve challenged the people that scream all this crap to put up..and they can’t find anything because there isn’t anything out there but Kirk respectfully having dialogue with those that he disagreed with. You don’t have to agree with any of this beliefs but we should all be able to agree that he was respectful to all others and he has the right to believe whatever and we can agree to disagree. That’s… Read more »
She really is the best of the otherwise sorry bunch of five
I used to be able to say the same about Heilman..but you’re right, Lauren now stand alone.
West Hollywood doesn’t follow the rules. We have always created them for our city. This was a sign of weakness and a hurt to the lgbt community of this city. We have been warriors out of necessity and now look weak. Friends from cities and states everywhere have written me telling me they are shocked. My response “No more than me!” There is no excuse or reasoning that will heal this anytime soon. The community en masse , has taken this as the last straw. There is so little confidence in council, and none for the city manager. What an… Read more »
“Warriors”???? LOL
Warriors . Nameless coward.
Clown
You’re quite correct. They are much more like clowns than warriors. The entire city is a clown show.
AGREED! The City of West Hollywood that I used to know would NEVER have capitulated to Trump. We all know why the flags were lowered; it was from Zionist Jews who saw Charlie Kirk as a hero for extreme right wing Zionist fascism and genocide, and the LGBT community be damned. That’s what was going on.
Just to keep the record straight, the largest group of Zionist in the United States are conservative Christians, who Trump and many of his Republican predecessors have long cultivated. Being Jewish is should not be equated with being a Zionist. On the other hand, being opposed to Zionism should not label you antisemitic.