Newcastle council votes to keep Pride flag in the closet

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June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month and many cities mark the occasion by flying the rainbow Pride flag. For the past four years, the city of Newcastle, a community of about 13,000 in the Eastside suburbs, was one of those places—but not this year. 

On Tuesday, Newcastle City Councilmember Paul Charbonneau, 27, motioned to raise the Pride flag at City Hall for June. Typically, the city would issue a Pride Month proclamation and raise the rainbow flag at City Hall as part of that ceremony.  

“We have a Pride flag in the closet. It doesn’t cost us anything to raise it,” Charbonneau said in the meeting, adding that seeing a Pride flag in front of City Hall helps LGBTQ+ community members feel safe and seen. 

His motion was rejected 4-3, with off-the-wall commentary from Mayor Robert Clark and other councilmembers who invoked an “All Lives Matter” type of rhetoric that quickly turned extremist as justification for voting down the motion.