Drove by Key West City Hall on White Street the other day, which in itself isn’t a big deal since I live nearby. This time I wanted to check something. Was the Pride flag still flying?
It is — but if the Florida Legislature has its way, it won’t be for long.
On Dec. 16, 2024, Republican State Sen. Randy Fine introduced SB100. Yet to have an official title, the bill’s purpose is “defining the term ‘governmental entity’; prohibiting governmental entities from erecting or displaying certain flags; requiring governmental entities to remain neutral in certain circumstances; authorizing a current or retired member of the United States Armed Forces or the National Guard to use reasonable force to prevent the desecration, destruction or removal of the United States flag or to replace such flag to a position of prominence, etc.”
A companion bill, H0075, with similar wording, was introduced Jan. 15 by three Republican House members, David Borrero, Berny Jacques and Juan Carlos Porras. Both bills are moving rapidly through the 2025 legislative session.
The flag bills, according to a staff report from the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability, prohibit “a governmental entity from erecting or displaying a flag that represents a political viewpoint, including, but not limited to, a politically partisan, racial, sexual orientation and gender or political ideology viewpoint. The bill states that a governmental entity must remain neutral when representing political viewpoints in displaying or erecting a flag.”
If passed and signed by the governor, the prohibition would take effect July 1. And with that Key West would have to remove the ubiquitous rainbow Pride flag at city hall. The same would apply to other governmental entities, including schools and colleges.
I don’t know exactly when city hall started flying the Pride flag, but since at least 2003, when the mile-long, Sea-to-Sea Flag was unfurled the length of Duval Street, the rainbow flag has become Key West’s default symbol for its One Human Family culture of inclusion. So much so that one of the most popular versions incorporates both the Conch Republic logo and the rainbow stripes.
The Key West Pride flag is more than an LGBTQIA+ symbol
The rainbow flag and the U.S. flag have flown from my porch for almost 15 years. They’re symbols of two principles that shape who I am: the U.S. flag, because there is nothing as miraculous as the Constitutional rule of law it represents; and the Pride flag, because it unequivocally says the people in the house are part of the One Human Family that accepts and enjoys all those who come here — assuming they aren’t jerks, of course.
Though I’m no constitutional expert — U.S. or Florida — I’m relatively confident that a Pride flag ban at government buildings will pass muster when legal challenges are resolved. What I call “statement flags,” like those for Pride and Black Lives Matter, generate intense emotions that roil public discourse. I’d suspect few of us would want a government to fly a Ku Klux Klan or Confederate flag outside Key West City Hall.
The Key West Pride flag is a whole other kettle of fish, as my grandmother would say.
The Pride flag and its inclusive rainbow colors are far more than a statement of LGBTQIA support. They’ve become our symbols of One Human Family, which was adopted in 2000 as the official city philosophy, and our status as a “Welcoming City,” a designation approved by City Commission in 2017. (Think of that as “Sanctuary City Lite,” because in 2019 Florida banned official sanctuary city designations.)
Though I hope it doesn’t, the day may come when the city has no choice but to lower the Pride flag. The somber symbolism would be heart-wrenching. It would break the covenant between our One Human Family and the rest of the world. And should it have to be done, that lowering must be marked with dignity and a reaffirmation that we remain a welcoming city.
The city hall Pride flag cannot simply disappear overnight to be tossed into a trash can. We certainly cannot allow “a current or retired member of the U.S. Armed Forces or the National Guard to use reasonable force” to replace the U.S. flag “to a position of prominence” by striking the Pride flag.
There is, however, nothing stopping you — private citizens, private businesses, faith-based organizations and others — from raising the Pride flag. Do it. Please. Fly the rainbow colors. We cannot allow the symbol of our pride in our One Human Family to falter.
Learn More
Understanding Florida’s Sanctuary City law
Key West Hope: Time to re-up on Key West’s One Human Family
If that unfortunate day ever arrives, I submit that this city will rise up and rainbow flags will be available everywhere for private citizens to display everywhere they choose. One will not be able to miss them when coming to Key West.