Downey, California is a suburb of Los Angeles and a predominantly Democrat city. Its five-member city council includes two openly “gay” men, including the mayor. The mayor helps run the Los Angeles County LGBTQ+ Elected Officials Association.

Each of the past three years, the city council enthusiastically passed a resolution ordering City Hall and other city properties to fly the LGBT rainbow flag during the month of June to commemorate “Gay Pride” month. This outraged families who see it as a blatant act forcing the city to celebrate an anti-Christian movement pushing sexual perversions on citizens and children.

Last year, local MassResistance activists went to a city council meeting and spoke out against the resolution. They urged the council to adopt a “neutral flag policy” instead that would only allow government flags – US, California, Downey, and POW flags – to be flown on city property. But the councilmembers ignored them and passed the “pride flag” order again for June 2023.

Fighting Back

The MassResistance families decided they weren’t going to let that happen again in 2024 and got to work.

In November 2023, the city held two special elections  to replace councilmembers who had left office before their terms ended. MassResistance activists confronted all the candidates about supporting a neutral flag policy. Many agreed, and some even supported stopping city funding for the local Pride festival. In the end, a pro-family candidate won one of the two open seats. It was a good start!

Starting in late November, MassResistance activists consistently emailed and called the city councilmembers to demand a neutral flag policy. If at first the councilmembers didn’t respond, more calls were made until they did! Local activists also provided sample language for the ordinance.

In March 2024, voters in nearby Huntington Beach passed a referendum banning non-government flags on city property. Meanwhile, even President Joe Biden reluctantly signed a budget bill that includes a ban on LGBT flags at U.S. embassies. But getting this neutral-flag policy past the leftist Downey City Council definitely presented a challenge.

Meetings Meetings

At the April 9 Downey City Council meeting, MassResistance activists spoke passionately about it. Why should one group be honored and everyone else left out? One activist pointed out that the whole LGBT movement is about people who suffer from loneliness and a lack of love, and are seeking to meet their needs through unnatural relationships.

The hard work clearly made a difference. After the public-comment portion of that meeting, a motion was made and seconded to put a neutral-flag policy on the agenda for an upcoming meeting.

When the council met on April 23, more MassResistance activists spoke in favor of the neutral-flag policy. The city council reportedly had been discussing it in a closed session as well. Things were happening.

A few days later, the city council announced it would take up the matter at the May 14 meeting – just weeks before “Pride Month” was set to begin.

The LGBT movement and the leftists were clearly alarmed. On May 5, the statewide LGBT group Equality California sent an email blast telling members to attend the Downey City Council meeting on May 14, warning them that “anti-LGBTQ+ extremists” were out to “silence your pride” and make the city “unwelcoming.”

At the May 14 meeting, it was clear that the political establishment did not want to pass the neutral-flag policy. Besides the two or three LGBT activists who showed up, staff from the district’s state assemblywoman and staff member from the L.A. County Board of Supervisors (who had pushed for a countywide Pride Flag resolution) attended to urge the city council to reject the neutral-flag policy.

That discussion was placed after a very lengthy item on the meeting agenda that took nearly three hours to finish. Then there was an hour of public comment about the flag policy, in which several MassResistance citizens participated.

“Gay” Mayor’s Nasty Speech

Just before the vote, when it had become clear the neutral policy would pass, the openly homosexual mayor made an angry speech castigating MassResistance. He started off by saying:

This motion strikes me as a direct attack on the pride flag. Let’s be clear on what we’re doing. This motion came about because of a group called MassResistance. Some of their members are sitting in the back … It’s an organized group … This is a step backward for our city …

He stated that MassResistance has two goals: “anti-immigration” (for which he offered no evidence) and “anti-pride flag.” He also labeled it a “hate group,” which is  typical of leftists when they have no solid arguments. He bashed religious people who read the Bible as hypocrites who harm their children, and said the pride flag needs to fly because homosexuals need to feel welcome.

The mayor’s statement upset some of the city council members. One of them said:

I firmly disagree with that statement. This is not an attack on any one community. We stand united under the flag of this country. It unites all of us regardless of race, color, or religion. We are called to represent all of our residents.

How They Voted

The neutral-flag policy passed 3-2. The two “no” votes were from the two homosexuals on the city council.

This was another stunning pro-family victory in a city dominated by Democrats, in one of the most pro-LGBT counties in the country, with a city council headed by one of the most outspoken LGBT activists in the region.

The MassResistance group in Downey has stuck together for years, and is willing to do what it takes to get good things done. A lot of activity went on (purposely) behind the scenes, which was part of the plan. And they’re not done in Downey. The group sees this as a springboard to even greater achievements there.

 

Copyright 2023 MassResistance. Republished with permission.