After receiving a request to fly an anti-abortion flag, the West Tisbury Select Board has unanimously adopted a new policy for town-owned property, limiting flyable flags to just a select few.
Starting Dec. 14, the only flags that can be raised on town-owned property are the POW/MIA flag, the U.S. flag, Massachusetts’ flag, and West Tisbury’s flag.
This policy comes after Robert W. Joyce, director of the Pro-Life Legal Defense Fund, asked that a flag reading “pro-life, pro-mother, pro-father, and pro-child” be flown within the town hall’s outermost circle. The select board voted at the time to refer Joyce’s written request to town counsel, which wrote the new policy.
The new policy, adopted at a Dec. 13 select board meeting, states that which flags the town chooses to fly on its property counts as governmental speech. It adds that such decisions by the town do not mean that town property is a public forum for flying such flags. “The select board’s choice of whether to raise, or decline to raise, a flag on town-owned property, the manner in which such a decision is made, and the adoption of this policy shall not be interpreted as designating any town-owned property as a public forum for the flying of such flags,” the policy reads.
“It doesn’t look like we could escape any type of controversy by adopting anything else but this,” select board member Skipper Manter said during Wednesday’s meeting.
West Tisbury’s town administrator has been authorized to work with town counsel to respond to Joyce’s earlier request.
On May 10, Oak Bluffs’ select board changed its town’s flag policy to allow the town to use a separate flagpole solely for ceremonial flags, for up to 14 days at a time. This came after being asked to fly Pride and Juneteenth flags. On Oak Bluffs’ other, official town flagpole, only the same four flags approved by West Tisbury can be flown, as well as official military flags. Oak Bluffs’ policy also stated that flags flown by municipalities are government speech, and that it would not consider requests for any specific flag.
On Dec. 5, the Greenfield Recorder reported that Franklin County, Massachusetts, towns have limited their flags to the same four as in West Tisbury, after Joyce’s fund asked them to fly a pro-life flag.
Here’s my take on this issue: https://www.mvtimes.com/2023/12/06/pro-choice-flag/
Makes sense
you gotta love West Tisbury.
This is exactly why I love living in West Tisbury. Well done. Public Property.
Continue to feel free to add more bumper stickers on the back of your car and more flags on your front lawn to express your personal views.
West Tisbury made a pro abortion choice, there is no middle ground.
you get my my “most ridiculous comment of the month award ” for that one.
Right On West Tis!!! Thank you! These in your face statements from all different sides are getting annoying.
The flag in your face statement is a Trump rally with a dozen American Flags pimped out with with gold fringe. His hugging the flag is American Exceptionalism at it’s finest.
Flags have become just another middle finger.
Best displayed on pickup up trucks with chrome stacks rolling coal.
American Exceptionalism on display.