Whittier Council Moves Toward Flag Ordinance After Pride Flag Request and Confusion Over City’s Rainbow Flag

Whittier Civic Center has separate flagpoles for the American flag, California flag, and Whittier city flag. Any future Pride flag display would likely require the city to decide whether a commemorative flag may temporarily replace or accompany the municipal flag under a formal flag ordinance.

Whittier City Council members moved Tuesday night toward creating a formal flag ordinance that could allow the city to fly the Pride flag next June, after public comments from residents and LGBTQ+ advocates urging the city to formally recognize Pride Month at City Hall.

The discussion also clarified a point of confusion. Whittier has not been flying the LGBTQ+ Pride flag at City Hall. Some residents appeared to believe the city had already been flying a Pride-related flag because Whittier’s official city flag features a rainbow-colored “W.” However, that flag is Whittier’s own municipal flag, not the Pride flag.

That distinction matters. A city flag is official municipal symbolism. A Pride flag would be a separate commemorative display, requiring the city to decide whether and how such flags may be flown at city facilities. At Whittier Civic Center, the American flag, California flag, and Whittier city flag appear on separate poles in front of City Hall. That means any future Pride flag display would likely require the city to decide whether a commemorative flag may temporarily replace or accompany the municipal flag, and whether such displays would be treated as official city speech under a formal flag ordinance.

During councilmember comments near the end of the meeting, Councilmember Aida Macedo requested that the city draft a flag ordinance so Whittier could fly the Pride flag next June. Macedo said the ordinance would allow the city to show its LGBTQ+ community that Whittier is an inclusive city.

The council did not vote to fly the Pride flag this year. Instead, members gave direction for staff to begin work on a policy that could return to the council later. Councilmember Cathy Warner was absent during the vote.

The request followed a public-comment period in which several speakers urged the city to fly the Pride flag during June. Speakers framed the flag as a symbol of visibility, inclusion, safety, and recognition for LGBTQ+ residents and families.

Lorenzo, who identified himself as a director with Whittier Pride, said Pride Month is the time of year with the greatest worldwide emphasis on LGBTQ+ pride and asked the council how the city could move toward raising the Pride flag in Whittier. He said the flag represents more than a symbol on a pole and can communicate that a government body supports LGBTQ+ residents and provides a safe space.

John Marzy also spoke in support of Lorenzo and Whittier Pride.

Vicky Goto, who identified herself as board co-president of PFLAG San Gabriel Valley, urged the city to raise the Progress Pride flag at City Hall for Pride Month. She cited concerns about LGBTQ+ youth, including bullying and access to mental health care, and said the city had an opportunity to signal that queer and transgender people are loved and respected.

Dr. Chasity Jennings Nunez also urged the city to fly the Pride flag, saying she was there to support Whittier Pride and encourage Mayor James Becerra to stay true to what she described as a campaign promise to fly the Pride flag during June. She argued that a city can structure its flag program as government speech and establish lawful criteria for which flags it chooses to fly.

Other speakers, including Martin Corruvius, Gabe Monsoya, Antonio Salon, Sophia, and Mark Sullivan, also spoke in support of the Pride flag or LGBTQ+ community recognition. Some speakers connected the issue to public health, youth safety, mental health, and the broader national political climate.

The comments reflected the views of those who chose to speak at the meeting and should not be read as a formal measure of citywide public opinion. Among Pride-related public commenters, however, support for flying the flag was more common than opposition.

At least one online speaker opposed the request. A speaker identified as Alana said she is a Whittier resident and strongly opposed flying the Pride flag, saying she believed only the American flag and Whittier flag should be flown. She also invoked biblical language, saying “pride comes before the fall,” and read from Ephesians during her comments.

Another online speaker read Bible passages during the same public-comment period, though the transcript did not clearly show a direct statement on the Pride flag request.

The issue returned during councilmember reports. Macedo asked for a flag ordinance that would allow Whittier to fly the Pride flag next June. Councilmembers gave direction for staff to move forward with that request.

Councilmember Vicky Santana also wished Whittier residents a happy Pride Month and said she had attended Supervisor Janice Hahn’s Pride-related event at the LGBTQ+ Community Center. Santana asked for the city to bring back a Pride Month proclamation at the next meeting. Staff indicated that if at least three councilmembers supported the request, the proclamation could be brought back.

The direction means the Pride flag issue is likely to return to City Hall in two ways: first through a possible Pride Month proclamation, and later through a proposed flag ordinance that could establish how and when commemorative flags may be flown at city facilities.

A formal flag ordinance could also help Whittier address legal concerns surrounding city flagpoles. In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Shurtleff v. City of Boston that Boston violated the First Amendment when it refused to fly a Christian group’s flag after previously allowing many outside groups to use a City Hall flagpole. The issue was that Boston’s practice made the flagpole function more like a public forum for private speech than a controlled expression of the city’s own message.

That ruling does not mean a city must fly every requested flag simply because it flies a Pride flag. It does mean cities need clear policies. One option is to treat commemorative flags as official government speech approved by the city. Another is to limit city flagpoles to official federal, state, county, municipal, and military flags. Without a clear policy, a city could face stronger legal claims from groups arguing that their flags are being rejected because of viewpoint. Until then the community will object if the Christian flag is banned but they will also object is the communist or socialist flags are flown.

The local debate also comes during a period of heightened national concern among LGBTQ+ residents and advocates. Since January 2025, the federal government has moved to define sex in federal policy as only male or female and tied to biological sex at birth. The State Department’s current passport policy says it will issue passports only with an M or F sex marker matching biological sex at birth. For transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people, policies like that can create problems with identification, travel, safety, and basic public recognition.

That national context helps explain why some speakers described the Pride flag as more than symbolic. For supporters, the flag represents whether LGBTQ+ residents are publicly seen and welcomed by their local government at a time when many feel increasingly targeted by federal policy and national politics.

For opponents, the issue raises different concerns, including whether City Hall should display only official government flags and whether flying a Pride flag would open the door to other symbolic or ideological flag requests.

Whittier’s existing rainbow-colored city flag adds another layer to the debate. Because the city flag already includes rainbow colors, some residents apparently believed Whittier had been flying a Pride-related symbol. But the city flag and the Pride flag are not the same. The city flag represents Whittier. A Pride flag would represent a specific commemorative recognition of LGBTQ+ Pride Month.

For now, the current council has not approved flying the Pride flag at City Hall. But Tuesday’s meeting marked a shift from public request to council direction, with staff expected to return with a proposed path for future Pride Month recognition.