{"id":99337,"date":"2025-12-18T05:51:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T05:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/99337\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T05:51:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T05:51:10","slug":"amid-strident-disagreement-los-gatos-votes-to-move-forward-with-pride-flag-plan-los-gatan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/99337\/","title":{"rendered":"Amid strident disagreement, Los Gatos votes to move forward with Pride Flag plan | Los Gatan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"woman<\/a>RAINBOW ADVOCACY – A woman speaks in favor of raising a flag in support of the LGBT+ community, during public comment at Los Gatos Council on Dec. 16, 2025. (Drew Penner \/ Los Gatan)<\/p>\n

After years of avoiding the issue<\/a>, Los Gatos is moving forward with a policy that could allow a rainbow flag to fly above Town Hall within months.<\/p>\n

High school students and members of the LGBT+<\/a> community faced-off with senior citizens and religious adherents Tuesday night at Council, as Los Gatos considered whether a \u201cProgress Pride Flag\u201d should flutter above its civic buildings (which would make it the 12th municipality in Santa Clara County to take such action).<\/p>\n

Ken Windham (who told this reporter he\u2019s a resident of \u201cNone of your business\u201d), argued that displaying a 49ers or Baltimore Colts flag on your vehicle\u2014or slapping a sticker on your bumper\u2014is one thing, but raising a Pride Flag at Town Hall may invite demands from Nazis (or \u201cSave the Dolphins\u201d \/ \u201cSave the Turtles\u201d activists) to elevate their insignia.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re opening the door to complete chaos,\u201d he said, during public comment for the first regular-agenda item of Rob Moore\u2019s mayoral career. \u201cIf that\u2019s what you wanna do, you can.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KenANTI-FLAG \u2013 Ken Windham argued flying a rainbow flag would invite Nazis and other groups to seek similar recognition. (Drew Penner \/ Los Gatan)<\/p>\n

The Progress Pride Flag<\/a>, which was designed by Daniel Quasar<\/a> in 2018, adds a chevron on one side of the classic rainbow Pride Flag, to celebrate transgender people, people who died of AIDS and (with a brown stripe) people of color.<\/p>\n

While the Bay Area served as the setting for the genesis of much of the gay rights movement<\/a>, Los Gatos has a solid contingent of older, more conservative, residents, people from a variety of faith traditions and Republican voters\u2014particularly now with the rightward tilt of Silicon Valley in the Donald Trump Second Term era.<\/p>\n

And the town has a fraught recent history with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights advocacy.<\/p>\n

Councilmember Rob Rennie recalled how, a few years back when Marico Sayoc<\/a> was mayor, there was such opposition to even discussing the possibility of raising the Pride Flag that the issue never made it to the full Council. Instead, Los Gatos voted to put rainbow stripes on a pair of local crosswalks on East Main Street, which sparked significant pushback from some quarters.<\/p>\n

A pair of dueling rallies were held in the wake of that decision<\/a>\u2014and various confrontations<\/a>: a smaller \u201clove\u201d walk attended by Proud Boys, Christians, Trump supporters and anti-abortion campaigners; and an \u201canti-hate\u201d march attended by thousands that focused on a message of unity.<\/p>\n

And those differing opinions were on full display, Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, I\u2019m frustrated,\u201d said Nova Jayaraj, a Los Gatos High School student, speaking stridently in support of raising the rainbow flag. \u201cThis policy isn\u2019t revolutionary.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said choosing to support the LBGT+ community with a flag-raising shouldn\u2019t be a tough decision.<\/p>\n

\"girlEASY MOVE? \u2013 Nova Jayaraj said raising a pro-LBGT+ flag is a no-brainer. Councilmember Rob Rennie didn\u2019t quite agree, though his thinking appeared to evolve during the hearing. (Drew Penner \/ Los Gatan)<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a place built on community, I expect you to keep building on that goal,\u201d she said. \u201cBeing gay or transgendered is not a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this, laughter erupted from parts of the audience. But she continued in a determined tone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our town, too,\u201d she said, adding there are many who are paying close attention those who push back against flying the Pride Flag. \u201cThat decision will not be forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n

Louisa Horwath, a young Los Gatos-Saratoga Youth Advocacy member in a Stanford hoodie, is one who will be watching how the debate concludes this time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to be honest here, being in this room scares me,\u201d she said, during public comment, while expressing support for a flag-raising.<\/p>\n

\"Sanchez-Silva\"RAISING HIS VOICE \u2013 Alexander Sanchez-Silva, a high school junior, was one of the most animated public commenters of the night.
(Drew Penner \/ Los Gatan)<\/p>\n

Horwath said she doesn\u2019t get how putting up the Pride Flag would affect those who oppose it.<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Suzuki<\/a>, the president of the Los Gatos Anti-Racism Coalition, who is now about a decade beyond his own graduation day at Los Gatos High School, lauded the high schoolers who stepped-up to speak.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re the best!\u201d he said, adding, \u201cThis is a historic decision before us today.\u201d<\/p>\n

One LGBT+ community member who spoke during public comment about how unwelcoming the town can be for gay and transgender youth, opted not to provide a name when asked by the Los Gatan afterwards.<\/p>\n

Debbi Wilson, a 72-year-old \u201cBapti-costal\u201d believer from Morgan Hill, told Council it\u2019s not just LBGT+ people who\u2019ve been discriminated against.<\/p>\n

\u201cChristians are one of the most persecuted groups,\u201d she said, adding that some perpetrators of mass violence have struggled with gender identity issues. \u201cShooters were actually transgender.\u201d<\/p>\n

Afterwards, when the Los Gatan asked her why on earth she thought this line of argument would be an effective tack in her effort to win-over people who might be on the fence about a flag-raising, her answer was simple: \u201cYou can never go wrong with the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson told Council if they\u2019re going to let the gay community have a flag-raising, they should also be willing to raise a Christianity-themed flag.<\/p>\n

\u201cRaise the \u2018Appeal to Heaven\u2019<\/a> flag,\u201d she said, stating that George Washington went into battle with that one. \u201cWe won a war we never should have won, because God was on our side.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was referring to the Pine Tree Flag<\/a> that references a quote by John Locke, in which the 17th century philosopher rejects the theory of the divine right of kings.<\/p>\n

\"ChrisPUSHING BACK \u2013 Chris Wiley said, if Council votes to support a Pride Flag, other groups\u2014like veterans and people with autism\u2014should get their due, as well. (Drew Penner \/ Los Gatan)<\/p>\n

Los Gatos resident Riley Pereyra, a regional manager at the Ethos<\/a> retail shop on North Santa Cruz Avenue, said flying two large rainbow flags in the window has been a \u201cfantastic experience\u201d for the business.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure you\u2019d want to have a community where people feel welcome and included and safe,\u201d he said, adding there have been a couple vocal dissenters\u2014but nothing too challenging. \u201cOverwhelmingly, it is positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Los Gatos resident Chris Wiley said establishing a flag policy for the benefit on a single group does a disservice to other special interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we need to talk about other flags,\u201d she said, bringing up the recent antisemitic attack in Australia and suggesting the community might want to consider flying the Israeli flag\u2014or a flag for people with autism, or for veterans (who, she said, had to fight hard to build the Flame of Liberty Memorial<\/a> outside the Civic Center). \u201cI\u2019m very serious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though staff said only three members of Council had asked for the Pride Flag-related agenda item to come forward, right out of the gate Councilmember Matthew Hudes set the potential policy on a strong footing by voicing his support of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I start with Los Gatos being a welcoming and inviting community,\u201d he said. \u201cWe should find a way to fly this flag next June.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he heard loud-and-clear that being gay is not an ideology and not selected the way \u201cother abhorrent ideologies\u201d can be.<\/p>\n

But, he added, it\u2019s important to proceed in a careful manner.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a little more work to be done,\u201d he said, asking for a review of what neighboring communities have done.<\/p>\n

One of the most animated speakers of the night was Alexander Sanchez-Silva, a LGHS junior, who lives in Los Gatos.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally this debate has turned into a weapon,\u201d he said. \u201cGay people are not a pawn in any agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n

He pooh-poohed the \u201cslippery slope\u201d arguments being made by some, who claim flying a rainbow flag will allow neo-Nazis and other hate groups to take over the flagpole.<\/p>\n

As is his style, Councilmember Rennie engaged in deliberative-thinking in real time.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me this is not a no-brainer,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a difficult subject.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he added, Sanchez-Silva\u2019s speech made an impression on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, to be discussing whether we put the flag (up) or not\u2026it\u2019s a disservice to gay people,\u201d he began. \u201cAnd I think that\u2019s a good point.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other hand, he wondered aloud, how do you support the LGBT+ community without making other groups feel like they\u2019re receiving second-class treatment? He explicitly referenced how many Jews feel afraid due to antisemitism around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, there are Palestinians that are feeling murdered,\u201d he said, adding his wife grew up in Ukraine, and so he can understand there could be a desire to take public actions in support of that nation. \u201cThere\u2019s been many people raped and murdered by the Russians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then again, taking a pro-Ukraine stance with visible symbols could make local Russians feel unwelcome, he continued.<\/p>\n

Rennie emphasized that he has family and friends who are gay, and say he understands the value of raising the rainbow flag in at least some venues.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut is it right for us in Los Gatos?\u201d he questioned. \u201cI\u2019m hesitant to rush into just doing the Pride Flag.\u201d<\/p>\n

He suggested sending the issue back to the Policy Committee to work out the details, but found no takers for this approach.<\/p>\n

Mary Badame made it clear that she doesn\u2019t support moving forward with a rainbow flag-raising.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current Town flag policy has worked well,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m supporting neutrality at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the end, Council voted to direct staff to move forward with a flag policy update, as well as a separate resolution to fly the pride flag in June.<\/p>\n

The motion passed 4-1, with Badame opposed.<\/p>\n

The matter is set to return to Council early next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RAINBOW ADVOCACY – A woman speaks in favor of raising a flag in support of the LGBT+ community,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[54163,36546,54164,54165,54166,418,54167,54168,20987,54169,193,54170,54171,54172,54173,54174,54175,88,90,89],"class_list":["post-99337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-chris-wiley","tag-christianity","tag-flag-policy","tag-flame-of-liberty","tag-gay-rights","tag-history","tag-jeffrey-suzuki","tag-jeffrey-suzukki","tag-lgbt","tag-mary-badame","tag-morgan-hill","tag-nazis","tag-nova-jayaraj","tag-pride-flag","tag-progress-pride-flag","tag-rainbow","tag-rob-moore","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}