Pride Month has ended, which means today will likely be the first day in a month that the Pride Flag will not fly over Dallas City Hall. As it does every June, Dallas flies the Pride Flag to honor the contributions and advocacy of the LGBTQ+ community. The gesture seeks to reflect the city’s commitment to inclusion and diversity. “That’s the official city of Dallas flag for the month of June,” City Council Member Omar Narvaez noted during a recent public address.
The purpose of the flag is to recognize the value of all people in our city and to recognize those who have historically been marginalized. We live in a pluralistic society, one where people of different backgrounds, beliefs and opinions coexist. The strength of Dallas — and of America — is our ability to live, labor, laugh and love together peacefully despite our differences and build better neighborhoods because of our differences.
Yet, as we elevate one community’s flag, we must ask whether we are inadvertently creating division where we seek to foster unity.
The only two flags traditionally flown outside Dallas City Hall are the American flag and the Texas state flag — symbols of our shared identity and common values. They represent a unifying civic bond, one not predicated on personal or group identity but on collective belonging as citizens of this city, state and nation.
Opinion
A city employee in the Facilities and Real Estate Management Department told me the only other flags flown over City Hall are for Pride Month and Juneteenth.
Introducing new flags for specific groups, even with good intentions, raises difficult questions. If we fly a Pride flag in June, should we not also raise a flag for Asian American and Pacific Islander Month? What about groups celebrating St. Patrick’s Day or Indigenous Peoples’ Day?
This isn’t merely a question of policy; it’s a question of principle. The city of Huntington Beach, Calif., addressed this dilemma last year, deciding to discontinue flying the Pride flag during June. In a public statement, Huntington leaders explained:
“In our effort to serve every resident equitably and align with federal and state guidelines, we have chosen to display only these official flags at this time. This decision reflects our commitment to maintaining a welcoming public space where every individual is respected and represented under the shared flags of our nation, state, and city.”
This decision underscores the need for neutrality in public spaces, especially those representing an entire city. Government buildings are not private homes or businesses; they are shared spaces for all, and as such, their symbols must unify rather than risk alienation.
Shouldn’t Dallas consider the same path? Honoring and supporting various communities can, and should, take many forms. But perhaps we best preserve civic unity by reserving our public, governmental flagpoles for the symbols that unite us all, rather than those that, however unintentionally, separate us into categories.
Why give ammunition to those partisan voices who will seek to divide us over symbols meant to unite?
Dallas should absolutely honor those who have fought and continue to fight for justice and equality. But as we move forward, let’s do so in a way that reflects our shared identity — one city, under one set of flags, with liberty and justice for all.
David J. Kohl is a partner with Mangrove Investments.