This is the American flag that survived the assault on Fort Sumter at the beginning of the Civil war. This flag has particular meaning because the Civil War fought in large part to end slavery in the United States and to ensure that ALL Americans had equal rights under U.S. Law. And this, of course, is the U.S. today:
And this is the Pride flag:
IF, you have a beef with United States policy on anything you have a constitutional right to protest. That right is codified in the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America. The First Amendment is arguably the most important because it guarantees free speech, religious freedom, freedom of assembly, and freedom of the press, and the right to petition the government for the redress of grievances.
For many years, the United States flag was protected by a variety of state and federal laws that prevented its desecration in protest. However, in 1989 the Supreme Court
held that a newly passed U.S. law, 18 USC 700, Desecration of the flag of the United States; penalties which specified that: “Whoever knowingly mutilates, defaces, physically defiles, burns, maintains on the floor or ground, or tramples upon any flag of the United States shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.”, was an unconstitutional restraint on free speech when it is used to convey protest against the U.S. government.
In dissent to that finding Justice John Paul Stevens wrote this about the U.S. flag:
”It is a symbol of freedom, of equal opportunity, of religious tolerance, and of goodwill for other peoples who share our aspirations.”
Nevertheless, burning the flag of the United States of America in protest is now a perfectly acceptable and legal expression of free speech.
HOWEVER, if you burn the rainbow flag you are likely to be charged with any of number of laws, fined and/or imprisoned. For example:
In 2019 a judge in Ames, Iowa sentenced Adolfo Martinez to a minimum sentence of 15 years in jail for taking a pride flag from a church and burning it in protest. He was charged with a hate crime.
In June, 2022 the burning of a pride flag that had been flying in front of Sunset Ridge Elementary School in Pacifica, CA was investigated as a hate crime.
Also in June, 2022 Lansing Police Department (LPD) Chief Ellery Sosebee offered this about a pride flag burning caught on a surveillance camera: “The Lansing Police Department will not tolerate any act of hate and intimidation and will seek the appropriate prosecution for any of these crimes.”
Are you seeing a pattern here? When confronted with this seemingly glaring double standard the response is clear and I think correct. One may burn whichever flag they wish as long as the person burning the flag owns the flag. Theft is theft.
Fair enough.
BUT the people charged in the cases cited above were charged with committing a hate crime or the case was being investigated as such. Ownership was not at issue nor is it ever or has it ever been at issue when the American Flag is burned. And therein lies the double standard.
Burning the American Flag regardless of proof of ownership is protected by the first Amendment.
Burning the pride flag regardless of proof of ownership is a hate crime.
I wonder, as an Oklahoma University graduate can I be charged with a hate crime for burning this flag at halftime during the annual Red River Shootout?
How about this flag? I’m a Ford kinda guy and if you’ve read ‘The Book’ (← shameless self promotion) you know that GM is funding GLSEN’s Rainbow Library. If I burn this flag is that a double hate crime? One for hating GM products and one for burning the flag of a partner and donor to the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network?
We have not just lost our minds we appear to have been bullied into surrendering our common sense and allowed a minority to dictate our rights to us. You see, it’s more than just a matter of flag burning. Justice Stevens captured that point perfectly in his dissent to Texas v. Johnson: [The American flag is] “… a symbol of freedom, of equal opportunity, of religious tolerance, and of goodwill for other peoples who share our aspirations.”
And the pride flag - what lofty ideas does it symbolize?
According to everyone’s favorite source, Wikipedia, the pride flag: “… is any flag that represents a segment or part of the LGBT community. Pride in this case refers to the notion of “gay pride” which is how a person feels about themselves.” (emphasis added)
What sacrifice does the pride flag embody? Which oppressed people from tyrannical nations see it as a symbol of religious and economic freedom? Free speech? Freedom to gather in protest? Who sees the pride flag as a promise of personal freedom unparalleled in the history of man not just for a particular segment of society but for all of society?
I think that the answer is obvious.
What do you think?
Union, Kentucky
3 March 2023