Hillsborough County Christians Say Rainbow Flag Memorials To The Dead Are "Unbearable"

As I have said here before, I am not a religious man; I do qualify that by saying I am not an organized religion man. I have a certain spirituality that is mine and I believe in creation things: I believe in reincarnation, and I believe that when our loved ones die they never really leave us. And I don’t need a man, or woman, in a pulpit, or my Sunday best seated in a pew, or a history book to explain all that to me. It’s my personal belief, and that’s good enough for me.

What I cannot believe is how people who call themselves Christians act toward the LGBT, especially in the days following last week’s mass murder where 49 of us were gunned down, and fifty of us were injured, just for being gay.

Shortly after the bloodshed, an LGBT pride flag was raised — as they were in many places around the country and the world — outside the Hillsborough County center as a sign of respect and remembrance for the victims.

And yet a day later, less than 24 hours, Hillsborough County  Commissioner Stacy White worried that the flag may be offending Christian employees and questioned whether it should be taken down.

Yes, a simple flag to remind us of, and to remember and honor, the victims of the worst mass murder in this country is offensive to Christians because, yes, gay.

But Stacy White said he received an anonymous complaint — of course it’s anonymous because bigots and haters refuse to sign their names — from a county employee that the presence of the flag was “nearly unbearable” for her to pass on her way to work and created a "hostile work environment."

A rainbow flag.

And so Stacy White, right, ignoring anyone and everyone who might have known a victim, or might know an LGBT person, or even :::gasp::: be an LGBT person told his supervisor that the flag was a “divisive, politically-charged symbol” and might become a human resources problem for the county. White wondered if they might take the flag down.

You know, because let’s not offend the Christians who cannot walk by a rainbow flag without feeling threatened.

Luckily, the commissioners voted 5-1  to keep the flag up through the month of June, which is Pride month; Stacy White, a Republican, who saw that coming, was not present for the meeting., after which the flag went right back up.

But Stacy White is still whining — perhaps he’s the “anonymous” letter writer and bigot — criticiaing County Administrator Mike Merrill for allowing commissioners to vote to raise the flag without telling them that some employees may have issue with it:

“It is still – in my view – unconscionable that the county administrator didn’t express to the board that this divisive symbol might create an uncomfortable workplace environment for many of his employees.”

Mike Merrill, left, in a memo to commissioners, defended the raising of the flag, saying he was “not aware of any employee complaint or concern having been expressed prior to the Board’s action” and adding that the decision to raise the flag followed commission protocols.

In addition to raising the pride flag, the Hillsborough County commission voted to recognize June as LGBT pride month every year from now on and to hold a candlelight vigil each year on June 12 to remember the victims of the Orlando shooting.

Stacy White will no doubt take the month of June off every year so he won’t have to endure the hostility of remembering the dead since it seems he believes the all the right people were murdered that night.

This ... is for Stacy ...hopefully he can "bear" it.

TampaBay.com