Lady Lake officials may not be proclaiming Pride Month in June.
Mayor Ed Freeman on Monday night asked his fellow commissioners if they wanted to proceed with a Pride Month proclamation, something they never even questioned the two previous years when the proclamation was signed and read into the record.
Commissioners Ed Regan and Amanda McLea said that Pride Month proclamations have become “divisive” in Lady Lake.
“It’s creating a divide in our town,” said McLea, who was elected in a special race earlier this year. “Do we have to read it every year?”
Regan said other communities in Florida have opted to stop proclaiming Pride Month due to controversy among their citizenry.
Rev. Paul Harsh of First Baptist Church in Lady Lake, who has spent the past several months hounding the commission over the previous Pride Month proclamations, suggested that town leaders are “out of bounds” by making such a proclamation. He accused them of endorsing homosexuality, something that he and other “Biblical Christians” believe is a sin.
The mayor, who said he believes that the Pride Month proclamation is a message of inclusiveness, suggested that the commissioners might vote on whether to move forward with the Pride Month proclamation. However, Commissioner Mike Sage said it would be wrong to vote on the Pride Month proclamation and not on the Poppy Days proclamation, which was read into the record earlier in the evening. The Poppy Days proclamation is a routine endorsement each year as the American Legion Auxiliary prepares to sell poppies over the Memorial Day weekend.
“We don’t vote on proclamations. It is not fair to vote on one of them. If we vote on one of them, we should vote on all of them,” Sage said.
Commissioner Treva Roberts, who is gay, waited for her fellow commissioners to speak before she stated her position. She said the town regularly issues proclamation when asked by constituents, including saluting Irish heritage and Black History Month. She said the LGBTQ residents are simply another group of constituents within the town.
“Pride Month exists whether you like it or not,” she said.
Here is a copy of the language contained in the town’s previous Pride Month proclamation: Lady Lake LGBTQ Pride Month
Do you think the Town of Lady Lake should proceed with the Pride Month proclamation in June? Share your thoughts at [email protected].