Edmonds mayor reverses pride flag decision after public pushback<\/p>\n
Published 10:18 am Wednesday, June 10, 2026<\/p>\n
EDMONDS \u2014 After controversy regarding Edmonds Mayor Mike Rosen\u2019s decision not to fly an LGBTQ+ pride flag outside of City Hall, the flag was flying as of 9 a.m. Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Last week, some Edmonds residents noticed that the pride flag was missing from City Hall. Since 2021, the city has flown the flag in June to recognize LGBTQ+ Pride Month. Last year, Mayor Mike Rosen made the decision to remove the flag holder on the City Hall building, he said in a statement Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis decision was not intended to reflect support for or opposition to any particular group, organization, or cause,\u201d he said Monday. \u201cI recognize that people may disagree with that decision, and I respect those differences of opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, Rosen said the decision stemmed from the larger question of whether cities should fly any commemorative flags. He cited legal challenges in other juridictions regarding government flag displays, \u201cunderscoring the importance of having a clear and consistent policy.\u201d Rosen did not expand on which legal challenges led to his decision to remove the flag holder.<\/p>\n
At Tuesday\u2019s City Council meeting, the council unanimously recommended that the mayor fly the pride flag for the month of June. By a vote of 5-2, the council also directed the city attorney to begin drafting an ordinance to create a comprehensive policy for commemorative flags. \u201cGiven the timeliness of the situation,\u201d the mayor decided not to wait for the ordinance and directed staff to reinstall the flag mount Wednesday morning, city spokesperson Natasha Ryan said in an email.<\/p>\n
The mayor will still move forward with City Council to create a policy to mitigate potential legal issues from flying commemorative flags, Ryan said Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
Other than flags, Rosen said in his Monday statement the city has shown support for important causes by issuing proclamations and council resolutions, providing financial support and staff assistance, and partnering with community organizations. This year, Rosen said he initiated a Pride Month proclamation and directed city staff to place pride flags throughout downtown Edmonds. The flags will remain in place throughout the month.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy decision should not be interpreted as a lack of support for LGBTQ+ residents,\u201d Rosen said.<\/p>\n
At Tuesday\u2019s meeting, several community members expressed frustration with the mayor for deciding not to fly the flag.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really disappointing, and it has brought me such grief,\u201d said Edmonds resident Alsia Soiset. \u201cI just don\u2019t understand. This is such a simple ask to celebrate people who are struggling to be seen and to be acknowledged that they deserve to exist and to live.\u201d<\/p>\n
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly said the pride flag was flying as of 9 a.m. Tuesday. It was flying as of 9 a.m. Wednesday.<\/p>\n
This is a developing story. Check back for updates. <\/p>\n
Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com<\/a>; X: @jennarpetersonn<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Edmonds mayor reverses pride flag decision after public pushback Published 10:18 am Wednesday, June 10, 2026 EDMONDS \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":696098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,301629,451,3,452,453],"class_list":["post-696097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-edmonds","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=696097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/696098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=696097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=696097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=696097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}