06/09/2009
Gay Couple Mocked, Slurred, Told to Remove Rainbow Flag
A gay couple in Mesa, Arizona are involved in a dispute with the Cambria Ocotillo Home Owners Association over their rainbow flag:
"The Vanderrans, who are gay, argue that their request to fly the gay pride flag was approved in 2003 by a previous management company. They took the flag down in August 2008 after receiving a complaint from the association. They still display several holiday-themed gay pride flags.
A letter to the couple from Olcott said the association’s design guidelines permit holiday flags. 'The board interprets the term ’holiday’ as the recognized national holidays. Those are New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Easter, Memorial Day, July 4, Veteran’s Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day,' the letter said. 'A day celebrating Gay Pride is not yet a nationally recognized holiday.'
Steven Vanderran said that argument doesn’t jibe, pointing out that Easter isn’t a nationally recognized holiday either, even though the board permits Easter decor.
...The couple says it has been the subject of slurs and mockery since the dispute began. In a May 11 posting on a local blog, a writer said the decorations were offensive and 'If they want to flaunt their preferences in sex partners like that, they need to move into a gay community.'
Olcott said the association’s intention is only to prevent clutter and it’s not singling the couple out."
Posted 8:21 AM EST by Andy Towle in Arizona, News, Rainbow Flag |
Permalink
Like it?
Subscribe to FREE Towleroad daily headlines with our RSS feed!
RECENT STORIES:
Post a comment
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
If you're dumb enough to move someplace with covenant restrictions or, worse, a homeowners association that controls things like what you can display in your yard, then you VOLUNTEERED to surrender rights and eventually you get burned by little wanna be fascist assholes. What did they expect would happen?
Posted by: KJ | Jun 9, 2009 9:01:20 AM
It certainly smells like discrimination, but I have a hard time feeling sympathy for anyone who buys a home that is beholden to a homeowner's association. As a recent homebuyer, I can't imagine giving up so many of my rights just so that my neighbors will be required to mow their lawns. You can't force people to be good neighbors, and you end up paying a price when you try.
Posted by: Mark | Jun 9, 2009 9:02:21 AM
If people want to put up religious decor at major Christian holidays, maybe they're supposed to move to a religious community? Oh right, they think that's all of America.
Posted by: OY | Jun 9, 2009 9:17:31 AM
Mesa is a wonderful Phoenix suburb with a large population of tolerant, caring Mormons.
I'm sure there's no discrimination going on there at all.
Posted by: crispy | Jun 9, 2009 9:44:10 AM
One word: Lawsuit.
Posted by: bluprntguy | Jun 9, 2009 9:55:00 AM
That's when I would go and buy a huge pole and put it in my front yard with an even bigger flag. I wouldn't care about the consequences since I'd be moving anyway. May as well go out with a bang.
Posted by: Tony | Jun 9, 2009 9:56:52 AM
This is what can happen when you make a stupid decision to cede your property rights to a stupid homeowners' association. I've got no sympathy for them. They signed a contract.
Posted by: Timothy | Jun 9, 2009 9:57:17 AM
Homeowner's associations still have to apply their rules constitutionally. This is obvious discrimination.
Posted by: wisebear | Jun 9, 2009 10:36:35 AM
Who cares? It's fucking Mesa and if ever there was another toilet to rival Freehold, NJ it's Mesa.
Posted by: Marc C | Jun 9, 2009 10:45:48 AM
it is a FLAG! If people get this angry over a flag I don't hold any hope for them. Fly that flag!
Posted by: KFLO | Jun 9, 2009 11:00:12 AM
Ummm... President's Day doesn't make the cut in that community? Can't decorate for Halloween?
What about Fag Day? FLAG Day, I mean... That's just next weekend. Maybe one of these residents (or both) are dyslexic?
Posted by: MikeinSanJose | Jun 9, 2009 11:05:14 AM
MARC C, I live in Middletown near Freehold and I'm afraid I'm a little ignorant regarding your comment. What happened in Freehold?
Posted by: JerzeeMike | Jun 9, 2009 11:46:37 AM
Court have held that even homeonwer associations cannot limit certain forms of political speech. I smell a civil rights lawsuit against the association here. Lambda Legal, ACLU, are you listening to this one?
Posted by: wren | Jun 9, 2009 12:00:12 PM
These are private contracts, so there is no discrimination prevention. HOA contracts do not fall under federal housing anti-discrimination laws or employment anti-discrimination laws, etc. However, nothing prevents a state, such as AZ from enacting laws that restrict HOA contracts.
Posted by: anon | Jun 9, 2009 12:14:23 PM
didnt Obama officially recognize june as LBGT pride month?..
Posted by: Ford | Jun 9, 2009 12:19:14 PM
Mesa, Arizona is heavy Mormon territory. They can sue if they want but they probably won't win. Very old white Mormon boy network-y. Forget the constitution. They don't even hire non-Mormons (along with non-straight, non-whites, or non-males) if they can get away with it...and they do frequently (unless it's a job in lawn care or fast food then it's brown people all the way).
Posted by: Wheezy | Jun 9, 2009 11:49:00 PM
I live in Phoenix so can personally testify that Mesa is a sh*thole. However, I have to agree, I would never give up my rights to live in an HOA community. You sort of deserve what you get in my opinion.
Posted by: Stephen | Jun 10, 2009 1:29:48 AM
As a gay man, the posts on here are one of the many reasons I hate the "gay life style" You all sound like a bunch of relegious right bigots that will turn their backs on your "family". I am glad I don't rely on any of your conditional love or support.
Posted by: JohnF | Sep 14, 2009 12:36:38 PM
As a gay man, these post represent why I do not like the "gay lifestyle". The posters here declaring they get what they deserve are of the same ilk of the religeous right and their conditional love.
Posted by: JohnF | Sep 14, 2009 12:46:19 PM