- Hub staff
After a year of anticipation, the local LGBTQ+ community, friends and allies were disappointed to learn that the PRIDE flag would not be flying over the Public Health building in Owen Sound this June. Now it appears that the flag, which had already been purchased, will soon be hung in the Atrium for PRIDE month.
Both staff and Board members had spoken about the proposed public display of support and respect, but it appears protocol and infrastructure stood in the way.
The response from Public Health to the Hub's inquiry appears in full below.
The Grey Bruce Health Unit supports empowerment to the LGBTQ+ community. We are advocates for inclusion and are a resource to assist and link to partners within the community.
We recognize flying a Pride flag is an outward sign of respect.
To that end, we have the Pride colours on display in our wayfinding/welcome screen in the Atrium.
However, we are quite limited in our ability to fly any flag in addition to the Canadian flag.
We only have one roof flagpole. It is dedicated to the Canadian flag and protocol dictates a second banner should not be placed on the same staff as the national flag. Nor is it our intent to remove the Canadian flag and replace with a Pride flag.
The roof is also being assessed for rehabilitative maintenance and consideration of a flag staff will be part of this analysis
We recognize a potential for the organization to better represent the community through these types of public gestures. Our plan is to review our ability to fly various flags including developing supportive policy and considering possible installation of ground mounted flag staffs.
We recognize we are remiss in not meeting the community's specific expectations this year but it is our intent to move forward in a respectful way to accommodate the request from the LGBTQ+ community and various groups that may come forward with similar requests. In that spirit, we would want to meet with partners to work toward a solution that will satisfy their needs and provide a long term direction for the organization, whether by a policy or some other guidance document.
