At the May 10 meeting of the Nashua Board of Aldermen, after I spoke during the public comment period about my Save Women’s Sports flag being taken down from the Citizen Flag Pole by the order of Mayor Jim Donchess in October 2020, Alderman-at-Large Melbourne Moran responded by saying:
I’ve had many, many people in this city that have approached me to say that the Satanic flag needs to fly with the Save Women’s Sports flag in the city because they are so closely related together.
And these aren’t my words. These are the words of my constituents and I just want to share them with you that it might be a good idea and symbolically to have these two flags flying together as they are so closely related.
I’m a God-fearing Catholic. I can’t stand on the side of the Satanic Temple but thankfully people like Ms. Scaer can lock arms with them and I do appreciate that and for the sake of freedom and the freedom of speech for everyone around the country.
Related: City of Nashua Admits They Were Wrong to Take Down My Save Women’s Sports Flag
This was my response to Alderman Moran during my public comments at the May 24 Board of Aldermen meeting:
Alderman Moran,
After I gave my public comment at May 10’s Board of Aldermen’s meeting about my delight that the Mayor and the City of Nashua admitted that it was wrong to have my Save Women’s Sports flag removed from the Citizen Flag Pole, I was prepared for sharp remarks in opposition to my flag.
Criticism of my flag is welcome because it keeps the dialogue going about what should be done about the issue of men competing in women’s sports and because freedom of speech is a right that I, and I assume all of you, hold dearly. If no one criticized the SWS flag, I would have no opportunity to defend it.
I was shocked when you went beyond criticizing my flag into a personal attack, calling me out by name and saying that I “lock arms with [the Satanic Temple].”
You, the person with power, disparaged me, the person without power, to your friends and colleagues and did in front of me but you spoke as if I weren’t there in the room with all of you, and with the residents of Nashua watching from home.
You used the classic bullying tactics – singling me out, making false accusations against me, humiliating me, and encouraging others to turn against me. I would compare it to middle school except this is the real world and canceling people has much more dire consequences.
And you violated the Board’s Code of Conduct and all of the members of this Board in attendance also violated it when they did not speak up about your violation.
You may say your attack on me was justified because my message is an attack on LGBTQ people. If that is so then why do Martina Navratilova and Caitlyn Jenner, two of the most famous LGBTQ people in the world support the cause of saving women’s sports? It is because as former elite athletes, they know better than anyone what a disadvantage women are at in physical competitions against men.
Last year, Martina retweeted this statement:
“The reputation of the gay rights movement is tarnished when activists that claim to represent us deny biological reality and undermine the sporting chance of girls and women.”
When you make a personal attack on me because of my message of saving women’s sports, you may score points with the powerful and connected of this city and you may believe you are being virtuous and speaking up for vulnerable people but you are in fact piling on and helping to cause serious harms to girls and women who only want to compete on a level playing field.
