With permission from the City of Nashua, we raised a Save Women’s Sports flag on the Citizen Flag Pole at Nashua City Hall, where it was supposed to fly for a week. Nashua Mayor Jim Donchess had it removed within less than 24 hours.
Related: Nashua City Attorney Tells Aldermen They Can’t Restrict Content of Speech
The Mayor told the Union Leader that the “Save Women’s Sports” message is discriminatory and the flag had to be taken down.
In a statement released Wednesday evening, Donchess said “Nashua is a welcoming community, in which we embrace all people and the contributions of all are celebrated and valued.”
“A flag containing a discriminatory message toward the transgender community was recently briefly hung on a flagpole at Nashua City Hall,” Donchess said. “The city of Nashua does not condone discrimination against transgender persons or anyone in the LGBTQA community. As a result, the flag was taken down.”
Our attorney had sent the Mayor a letter appealing his decision to remove the flag and explaining that the Citizen Flag Pole is a public forum and it is unconstitutional for the government to censor speech in a public forum. The Nashua City Attorney reaffirmed that same point in a Board of Aldermen meeting the day the letter was sent when discussing an ordinance to restrict public comment during public meetings.
But the Mayor is going to die on the hill that political correctness is more important to the city than following the New Hampshire and US Constitution. How much is the City of Nashua willing to pay to defend that choice?
Learn more about what the Mayor considers so objectionable at savewomenssports.com.
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