Oak Harbor council to revisit Pride flag policy

Published 1:30 am Friday, June 5, 2026

Oak Harbor council members will revisit the issue of flying a Pride flag on city property during a meeting next week.

According to the agenda for the June 9 workshop meeting, Mayor Ronnie Wright and city staff will ask the council to reconsider a city flag policy that was adopted last year.

The new proposal is in response to members of the public who spoke at a regular meeting this week in support of a policy to allow the raising of the Pride flag, which is a symbol used to represent LGBTQ+ identity, pride and social movements. June is Pride Month.

Five people spoke at the meeting and one person submitted written comments in favor of flying the rainbow-colored flag.

“The Pride flag represents a place of safe harbor,” Terrence Franklin said. “When I arrived here in 2005, I felt all those things. But that flag, equality symbols, they gave me hope. I moved away from here. I came back to the city because I saw the city as a place of progress…. That flag means more than I can actually say. It tells people that my home, when I fly it, is a place where they can meet so many needs.”

Wright thanked the people for their comments and asked for a round of applause.

“It’s not easy to stand up and publicly speak first of all for anyone and it’s certainly not easy to be vulnerable in front of people that you don’t know,” he said. “I do it every single day, and it’s very uncomfortable for me. But I appreciate all of you and I really respect the heck out of all of you for being here today and showing your support.”

As proposed, the new policy would allow the mayor to order the raising of a Pride flag, a Juneteenth flag, a City of Oak Harbor flag and a Sister City commemorative flag. In addition, the policy says the council shall only consider additional requests for the display of commemorative flags at the written request of the mayor or a member of the city council. The council’s decision to approve or deny such a request can only be made at a public meeting.

Last summer, city staff recommended a policy that would allow the city to raise commemorative flags — such as Pride or POW/MIA — with council say-so, but the council members had a difference of opinion.

Councilmember Eric Marshall, for example, argued that city property should be a neutral space for political speech, while Mayor Pro Tem Tara Hizon argued that commemorative flags and inclusivity should be promoted.

In the end, council members approved a policy that only addressed the lowering of the U.S. flag and the State of Washington flag.

The agenda packet states that the proposed new policy reflects policies adopted by other cities in the state.