MyRye.com is publishing a series of letters of support for raising the Pride flag on City flagpoles. The letters were sent to the City ahead of the City Council voting to fly the flag, and are a matter of public record.
From: “Birgit P. Townley”
Subject: Pride Flag in Rye
Date: May 1, 2021 at 8:54:08 AM EDT
To: Josh Cohn <[email protected]>, “Mecca, Richard J.” <[email protected]>,
<[email protected]>, <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>,
<[email protected]>, <[email protected]>
Dear Rye City Council,
We join our neighbors and friends in expressing our support for raising the Pride flag on a municipal flagpole in the City of Rye.
As residents for more than 20 years here in Rye, we believe that our city should welcome every opportunity to express support for values such as inclusion and diversity. Raising the Pride flag on a municipal flagpole in Rye in June will be an important visual statement that our town wholeheartedly embraces all members of our community.
Respectfully,
Birgit and Dan Townley
We’ve all read the letters leading up to the Pride Flag raising. The flag raising and ceremony was wonderful. Can YOU move on please and publish something new and relevant.
Please, this is relevant to a lot of people! A step in the right direction, let’s continue to fight against and acknowledge the disparities that the LGTBQ population experience. Let’s continue to talk about working for and making cultural changes that promote acceptance of ALL. So please, remember this IS relevant and will continue to be relevant until we are all accepted for who & what we are.
I’m happy that MyRye is publishing many of the letters received by the City Council, asking them to stop the foot dragging and straw man arguments and raise the Pride flag, finally this year. I am so thankful to the RHS GSA and the grownups around them that kept speaking truth to power until they did the right thing. I’m sorry the CC spent our tax dollars on outside counsel, when the evidence from other local towns, the county, the state and our country was clear, but I’m glad the flag raising finally happened. I’m always suspicious when people insist we “move on,” especially about an issue obviously so important to so many people in Rye. The easy remedy, of course, is to simply read the stories that interest you, and not try and force others to live by what you deem “relevant.”