Shouts of 'shame' disrupt Windsor council meeting after flag policy decision deferred

Shouts of 'shame' disrupted Monday's Windsor city council meeting after councillors deferred a decision on changing the city's flag policy.

The proposed amendments to the policy would limit the types of flags that can be raised outside Windsor city hall to official government flags, and flags associated with formal delegations or events sponsored by the city.

But 2SLGBTQ+ advocacy groups such as Windsor-Essex Pride Fest want clarity on whether the policy will allow them to raise the Pride flag at city hall — something the municipality has supported in the past.

Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens attempted to clear up those concerns during Monday's meeting.

"Even if the council accepted the proposed amendments to the policy, it does not impact the flag-raisings that have already happened," Dilkens said.

A list of delegates were scheduled to speak the meeting — some of whom shouted in protest.

"We don't believe you," one member of the crowd yelled at Dilkens.

Another person in the crowd accused councillors of homophobia.

Council voted to defer a decision on the matter until more information could be received from staff.

Ward 1 Coun. Fred Francis defended councillors during the disruption, saying "No one's homophobic here," and explaining when the policy is expected to return to council.

Delegates and their supporters left the chambers when council moved on to the next agenda item — but more than a dozen people stood outside the building in protest, continuing to wave Pride and transgender advocacy flags.

The protesters did so at a window in direct view of councillors.

Building security drew the window blinds, blocking council's view of the protest.

One of the people who had signed up as a speaking delegation — Adam Bergamin, a.k.a. "Disco Jesus" — said council's deferral of the discussion felt like "deflection... which does not come off as wanting to actually talk about it."

"We want a commitment," Bergamin said. "We do not know if we're allowed to fly a flag or not."

Bergamin described himself as "Windsor's leading theatrical drag performance artist," but said his concerns about the proposed new policy aren't just regarding the Pride flag.

"We want other flags to also be honoured," Bergamin said. "We are also fighting for other people's right to fly a flag."

Windsor-Essex Pride Fest writes to council

On May 21, CBC News sought clarity from city administration on what exactly the amended policy would allow — asking if the changes would affect raising of the Pride flag, the Detroit Lions flag, and the Pan-African flag.

All three flags have flown at Windsor city hall in past years.

A City of Windsor spokesperson did not directly answer the question.

"Until such time as council provides direction, it would be premature to speculate on individual eligibility under the proposed framework," wrote Michael Janisse, the city's acting manager of communications.

David Lenz, a member of Windsor-Essex Pride Fest's board of directors, was among those who wrote to city council urging that city hall continue to raise the Pride flag.

"The City of Windsor, mayor, and council have been strong supporters of the local 2SLGBTQIA+ community in many ways," Lenz wrote.

"With that in mind, we ask that Mayor Drew Dilkens and members of city council not eliminate the opportunity for our organization and our community to proudly raise the Pride flag, as we have done since the year 2000."

Wendi Nicholson, president of Windsor-Essex Pride Fest, was among those in the audience in council chambers.

She told CBC News that the person who shouted 'shame' and was escorted out of the meeting is not associated with Windsor-Essex Pride Fest.

"I was embarrassed," said Nicholson about the outburst. "It's a mark on us, because they came out in defence of the Pride flag raising."

Nicholson said she trusts council will pass a policy that permits the Pride flag to be flown at city hall.

Mayor: 'A whole lot of anger about nothing.'

Mayor Drew Dilkens later told reporters that the amended flag policy would allow for exactly that.

"It's under special commemorations," Dilkens explained. "That's what I tried to tell people. I got the emails ahead of the meeting. I read the emails and I could tell that there was a lot of misinformation spreading among certain people in the group."

Dilkens characterized the protest as "a whole lot of anger about nothing."

"This was not the Pride community that I know... This is not the normal Pride community that I've dealt with. Those are respectful, sensible, good people who look forward to working together and finding pathways."

According to Dilkens, the most vocal members of the audience "clearly didn't want to listen... they just wanted to put on a display."

The proposed revision to the flag policy is expected to return to council at a future date.