Dent County, Missouri will take back its plan to fly flags “below half-staff” to mourn the Supreme Court’s same-sex marriage decision, out of respect for veterans, the Salem News reported Tuesday.
Presiding County Commissioner Darrell Skiles told the Salem News the three-member, all Republican commission would vote Tuesday or Wednesday to axe the plan “out of respect for veterans and those currently serving in the military.”
Skiles had said in a letter Monday that lowering the county’s flags on the 26th of every month from July 2015 to July 2016 would protest the Supreme Court granting a “stamp of approval of what God speaks of as an abomination.” He also it would act as a monthly reminder of “this despicable Supreme Court travesty” on the monthly anniversary of the historic ruling.
Just as all three of the Republican commissioners voted to lower the flags, the vote to rescind is also expected to be unanimous, the paper reported.
News of the decision spread rapidly through Dent County, population 15,000, with a petition to “Stop Act of ‘Mourning Gay Marriage’ By Lowering Flags Below Half Mast,” launched by a group dubbed “The Organization of Reasonableness of Dent County” appearing online within hours. The petition had around 1,180 signatories on Tuesday morning.
“The act of lowering the American flag from full height has long been a way for communities to mourn local and national tragedies. To compare the Supreme Court ruling on homosexual marriage rights to those tragedies in any way is an insult to both the tragedies that have been previously mourned in this manner and the basic principles of government under which the United States operates,” Salem resident Alex Sellers wrote with the petition.
According to U.S. Flag Code, the flag is to be flown at half-staff until noon on Memorial Day, by order of the President, or to mark the death of principal figures of government, such as former governors, presidents, and Supreme Court justices.
County Commissioner Gary Larson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the High Court’s decision is “just one step backward.”
“It ain’t what our Bible tells us. It’s against God’s plan,” Larson said.
Larson also told the Post-Dispatch that although he didn’t know Skiles planned to propose lowering the flags in mourning, he “was wanting to do the same thing.” Larson added the commissioners consulted with the county’s attorney on flag codes and were assured the action was legally protected.
The county granted its first marriage license to a gay couple on July 1. They remain the only same-sex couple to apply for a county license so far.
