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A Proposed Flag Ban Gets Denied At North OC Community Colleges
A person waves a Pride flag on June 26, 2015 in San Francisco, California.
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Justin Sullivan
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Getty Images
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Topline:
The North Orange County Community Colleges District’s bout with a flag ban is over for now. The proposed resolution, which would have allowed only certain flags to be “flown, affixed or displayed” on district property didn’t get enough support after hours of public comment Tuesday night.
What happened? Trustee Ryan Bent, who introduced the resolution, didn’t get board support to bring the motion to a vote, which many saw as a way to stop the Pride flag from going up. As a result, the proposed flag policy failed in the meeting. Professors, students and staff showed up to the meeting and urged the board to deny the item.
How would the policy have changed things? It would have banned “religious, ethnic, racial, political, or sexual orientation group flags and banners” from being on display in the district. Only the American flag and a handful of other government and college flags would have been allowed. While the resolution didn’t explain what areas of display applied, Bent said after his motion failed that this was never about taking flags out of affinity spaces.
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Who would it have affected? NOCCCD leads the Cypress and Fullerton colleges and a continuing education arm. According to board documents, there is no flag policy in place and requests to display flags are handled at the campus level. About 10% of NOCCCD students described themselves as LGBTQ+ in the 2022-2023 academic year.
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But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.
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