Small Florida Town Defiantly Raises Pride Flag After Mayor Warns Against It

The small town of Surfside, Fla., held a flag-raising ceremony in honor of Pride Month and its LGBTQ+ community despite opposition from Surfside Mayor Shlomo Danzinger.

The town decided not to raise the flag last year after Danzinger said it would open Pandora’s box of similar requests from religious groups, political advocates and self-proclaimed Satanists requesting their flags to be flown.

Despite receiving opposition from Danzinger, Surfside commissioners voted 3-2 earlier this year to designate June as Pride Month and to hold a ceremony to raise the Pride flag.

“Pride Month is all about acceptance and inclusion,” Surfside Town Manager Hector Gomez told WPLG. “This symbol of solidarity for the community demonstrates what a welcoming and diverse place Surfside really is.”

“It’s amazing,” added one resident. “It’s a big deal after last year that we couldn’t raise the flag, and we are very proud to do it right now.”

Danzinger did not attend the event but did release the following statement.

“It’s important to note that we live in a community where over one-third of the population is Jewish, yet the Town has never sponsored an Israeli Day Parade or a Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony,” he said. “Additionally, over two-thirds of our population is Hispanic, yet we have never had a Hispanic Day Parade. The list goes on.”

In an interview last month with The Miami New Times, the mayor maintained his stance that town-owned flagpoles should be reserved for government flags unless and until the commission adopts a flag-raising policy that will guide the town in handling future requests.

“During our town commission meeting last June, I expressed my support for Pride Month, Juneteenth, and emphasized the importance of tolerance while condemning bigotry and racism in my opening remarks to the community,” Danzinger told New Times in a statement. “I fully endorsed a resolution for Pride Month. However, what I did not support was the use of our government flagpole to promote a specific message without a town policy in place that would grant equal opportunities to all organizations.”

Other town leaders said the ceremony will continue to be held to show how welcoming and diverse the Surfside community is.

“Pride Month is all about acceptance and inclusion,” Surfside Town Manager Hector Gomez said. “This symbol of solidarity for the community demonstrates what a welcoming and diverse place Surfside really is.”