I wanted to wait until after Pride Month to express my concerns about how the Town of Los Gatos decided to fly the Progress Pride flag. There are several factors that lead me to believe the Town should reconsider its decision to fly the LGBTQ+ Progress Pride Flag. From what I have read, this appears to have been a predetermined decision, in search of a rationale.
To be clear, I’m not judging the LGBTQ+ community. My issues are with the Town’s process, its awkward justifications, and the Town’s undefined stance on transgender ideology and agenda. The Mayor and Council have acknowledged being highly influenced by a handful of high school students who reported being bullied by classmates.
This kind of behavior is unacceptable. It should be called out and corrected at the school with parental involvement and consequences for the offenders. A flag does not raise awareness of the problem, and will not solve it. Particularly unclear is the Town’s stance on the flag’s transgender inclusion. Does this mean the Town offers “unwavering” support for transgender ideology, injecting children with hormone blockers, and surgically altering children’s bodies? Does the Town offer empathy and support for the transitioned children who suffer regret as they mature?
Furthermore, does the Town officially support transgender girls (biological boys) competing against biological girls in athletics as advocated by the LGBTQ+ lobby? Should they share the same locker room? Does the Town care about the safety and feelings of these girls? Should we celebrate boys bullying our daughters in sports? Raising this flag raises a lot of questions. I’m also concerned with other questionable events, from Mayor Rob Moore portraying Los Gatos as bigoted toward the LGBTQ+ community, to Ken Yeager speaking at the flag raising ceremony, admonishing the teens to continue fighting.
Fighting is divisive; us versus you. Yeager’s rhetoric reminds me of a pirate captain, plundering another merchant ship, and raising the Jolly Roger to celebrate the conquest. Silly me, I thought this was all about Los Gatos being welcoming and inclusive.
Jim Barnes
Los Gatos
*Letters are edited for length and clarity.
I would respectfully disagree with Mr. Barnes that “a flag doesn’t raise awareness of a problem” as his very letter is proof that it does. And that problem is misinformation. Many queer/ gender-queer youth are marginalized and feel ostracized. A flag in a store window or town square or home lets kids know it’s a safe place for them to be themselves. It isn’t our job to tell anyone who they are, just to be a good neighbor to everyone. As a citizen of my community, I want all my neighbors to feel welcome regardless of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or religion and the Pride flag anywhere lets me know that that place or person is likely to be friendly and open-minded and kind. That’s it – that’s the whole message. Not this “undefined stance on transgender ideology” – the town doesn’t need a stance on individual/family medical decisions anymore than it needs a stance on any other medical care. That’s personal. What we do need is more kindness to the people, adults and kids, who are right in front of us. So thanks to my town for raising a flag and letting our citizens know that we are a nice, kind place to live and go to school and work. More kindness, less judgement!