In the wake of the lawsuit that Camp Constitution filed against the City of Boston, city officials came up with the rules for flag-raising ceremonies. Rule 1 excludes “religious movements” but Rule 3, says that participants can’t discriminate based on sex, race, and religion. So, the City can discriminate against religion but participants can’t. Rule 1 reads that flags can’t be offensive. Offensive to whom? I think that the answer is obvious: Offensive to the Marxists who run the city. A communist flag is not offensive to Mayor Marty Walsh and the City Council but it is offensive to people who love liberty.
Here is the new policy from the City’s website:
City of Boston Property Management Department Flag Raising Rules
1. At no time will the City of Boston display flags deemed to be inappropriate or offensive in nature or those supporting discrimination, prejudice, or religious movements.
2. Flag raisings must occur on a normal business work day, generally between the hours of 10:00 am and 3:00 pm. Requests to raise a flag on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday will normally be referred to the business day before or after the weekend or holiday. If an applicant requests a flag raising outside of the above times, he or she must seek a waiver from the Commissioner of Property Management Department and provide an adequate justification. The decision of the Commissioner will be final.
3. All flag raising events must be open to members of the public. Guests must adhere to the City of Boston policy not to discriminate on the basis of sex, race, religion, etc.
4. The guest must deliver the appropriate size flag to the City of Boston PMD and retrieve the guest flag after the raising. The flag must be clean and serviceable flag with dimensions no less than 3 feet wide by 5 feet long and no greater than 10 feet wide by 15 feet long. PMD and the City of Boston will not be responsible for guest flags not retrieved.
5. All events must be consistent with the City of Boston’s sustainability goals, including its efforts toward making Boston a zero waste city. (Here an example of the city implementing Agenda 21)
6. If ordered, flags may be lowered to comply with the U.S. Flag Code. If the Governor or other appropriate authority orders that the U.S. Flag be flown at half-staff, no other flag may be flown higher than the U.S. Flag.
7. Guest flags will normally only be flown 24 hours or less.
This is also on the city’s website:
” We want to create an environment in the City where everyone feels included, and is treated with respect. We also want to raise awareness in Greater Boston and beyond about the many countries and cultures around the world. Our goal is to foster diversity and build and strengthen connections among Boston’s many communities.”
This is a flat-out lie. Marty Walsh and the City Council do not treat conservative Christians with respect, and the city sure isn’t interested in building and strengthening connections among Boston’s “many communities” since they treat conservative Christians as second class citizens.
Here is a list of dates for flag-raising events from the city’s website:
February 15, Lithuania, March 6 Ghana, March 8 Tibet, March 14, Ireland May 3, Poland May 17, Haiti
May 31 Boston Pride Week June 4. (This is a religious flag since churches all over the city fly it), Caribbean American June 9, Portugal June 12, Philippines June 15, Juneteenth (to celebrate the passing of the 13th Amendment), July 5, Cape Verde July 9, Argentina July 10, Venezuela July 19, Colombia July 22, Puerto Rico (Not a foreign nation) July 26, Peru August 6, Bolivia August 9, Ecuador August 16, Dominican Republic September 6, Brazil September 8, Ethiopia September 9, Chile September 12, El Salvador September 14 Central America September 16, Mexico October 5, Taiwan October 13, Cuba and October 29, Turkey.
The city doesn’t list Communist China since it gets folks a little riled up but the Chinese communists usually raise it in late September or early October to commemorate the communist take-over of China. https://www.boston.gov/departments/property-management/boston-city-hall-plaza-flag-raising-dates
Boston is in violation of state law almost every time a foreign flag is raised on the plaza. Here is the state law on the subject:
Section 8: Foreign flag; display; penalty; exception
Section 8. Whoever displays the flag or emblem of a foreign country upon the outside of a state, county, city or town building or public schoolhouse shall be punished by a fine of not more than twenty dollars; but, except as to public schoolhouses, this section shall not apply when a citizen of such foreign country becomes the guest of the United States or of the commonwealth, or when a diplomatic representative of a foreign country is a guest at said public building and, if the governor by proclamation authorizes the flag of the country of which such guest is a citizen to be displayed upon public buildings. https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter264/Section8
The city denies us a permit to fly the Christian flag which is deemed offensive and “unapproved government speech” while openly breaking state law, and allowing foreign flags including those of Communist China and Cuba to fly. Camp Constitution has appealed the Federal Court’s recent decision and its attorneys at Liberty Council ( https://www.lc.org will take it all of the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. We will continue to expose the city’s “systemic” bigotry and illegal activity.