Controversy Over Marking Pride Month Shows Rifts in Rowlett
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Missy Tidwell has lived in Rowlett for more than three decades. Tidwell and some of her closest friends often scream about injustices in the city. “We’re basically a loose bunch of city rebels,” said Tidwell. “When we see something wrong, we bring it to light. We believe in transparency. ”
But Rowlett is a divided city, and they’re not the only ones with strong opinions. “You have the super-conservative, ingrained side of religious belief,” she explained. “Then of course there are the ‘immoral’ people who are not the conservatives.”
This crack is particularly visible this month. Mayor Tammy Dana-Bashian recently announced that the city will celebrate LGBTQ Pride Month in June. The city’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Commission (RDEIC) had initially asked the mayor for a proclamation, which was approved at the council meeting on June 1st. The plan was to light up the city’s water tower that night.
“The RDEIC vision is acceptance and inclusion, and as I understand these words, justice is an integral part,” said Munal Mauladad, the Commission’s liaison officer, at the meeting. “Inclusion leads to justice, and I’m excited to see how Rowlett’s inclusion affects our community.”
But several local pastors, including Steven Leatherwood of the First Baptist Church, showed up for the meeting to speak out against the decision.
“I know there are many people in the gay lifestyle who are good people and who serve our community well, but for me, to put the lights on the water tower to represent that lifestyle, you might as well have some lights for the people who live in adultery and other promiscuous lifestyles, ”Leatherwood said.
That night, the city’s water tower lit up, apparently to commemorate Pride month. The backlash came almost immediately. Angry residents flooded the inboxes of local officials with emails.
Tidwell and her friends asked for any communication with city council members regarding Pride month and water tower lights. (They relayed these conversations to the Observer.) What Tidwell and her rebel colleagues found was a wave of heated letters to city officials from residents and religious leaders disapproving of the proclamation and wanting a change in policy. Some council members answered their calls.
Leatherwood, for example, had fired an angry email. “Why would you proclaim, declare, and approve what God and His Word openly declare to be wrong?” Leatherwood wrote. “You could just as easily and rightly recognize those who commit adultery. Sexual sin is sin. While our society allows for both, we don’t need to promote them. My heart is heavily burdened and saddened by this news. ”
“It has turned into quite a shit storm.” – Missy Tidwell, resident of Rowlett
Later, Larry Traylor, another pastor in the area, was driving down Main Street when he looked up to see a series of lights flashing the colors of the rainbow illuminating the Rowlett water tower.
The city’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Commission has posted a video on Facebook entitled “Rowlett Water Tower PRIDE”.
Traylor Sr. was offended. He wrote an email to members of the city council, arguing that this “does not reflect Rowlett as a community”.
He added: “Whatever politics have allowed must be undone.”
With increasing pressure, the city released a statement stating that while Rowlett celebrated all cultures and diversity in the community, the water tower lighting sequence was a mechanical malfunction. The city announced that the lighting was deactivated until repairs can be carried out.
But Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Pamela Bell denied that version of events. “We are working to correct this!” Bell wrote Traylor. She claimed that some of the councilors did not know or approve of the mayor’s decision.
“I can say Brownie Sherrill, Martha Brown and I disagree!” she added, referring to other city council members.
She offered to forward an email from Martha Brown and asked the pastor to find “as many people” as possible to sign. In fact, she had already worked behind the scenes.
The night the water tower lit, Bell asked Pastor Brian Hiatt and his ward for help. “The tower supports Pride month!” Bell said in her email. “Need a favor. Do you think it is possible to have your community sign a petition? Get as many names as you can ASAP! It takes 2 councilors to put something on the agenda! We can put it on the agenda for the June 15th vote. “
Bell, Sherrill, and Brown continued to rally the troops.
Sherrill later wrote to Hiatt, “Just so you know. The Council did not vote or approve any proclamation. For me and Pam Bell, we speak by your side on this matter. ”Hiatt told councilors that the Church will collect as many signatures as possible.
Then, early on June 2, Brown emailed City Manager Brian Funderburk asking about a change in Rowlett’s proclamation policy.
“Given yesterday’s meeting, which I felt was embarrassing for everyone, I think it would be wise to develop or add to an existing directive a directive that requires the approval of a majority of the Council before a proclamation can be issued. “Wrote Braun.
“No elected official should be able to issue proclamations that are rejected by a majority of councilors and / or that do not reflect the values of our community, as proclamations should be made on behalf of the mayor, city council and the town of Rowlett.” She continued.
The opposing sides will face each other during a city council meeting on Tuesday evening where the city hears from locals. “It turned into quite a shit storm,” said Tidwell.
Bell and Sherrill did not respond to requests for comment. However, in an email, Brown said the council would consider creating a new directive that would require the approval of a majority of the council before proclamations can be published.
This is also taken into account for the water tower lighting in downtown Rowlett to support, promote, or celebrate holidays and events. “I support this new policy because these recognitions should be decided in the same way that the Council makes all of our decisions: by majority vote,” Brown wrote.
Tidwell said she wasn’t sure what will happen in the end. However, she and her rebel friends intend to keep the injustices in Rowlett under the spotlight.
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Jacob Vaughn, a former journalism student at Brookhaven College, has been writing for the Observer since 2018, initially as the club editor. More recently, he was in the news department as an editor for City Hall, the Dallas Police Department, and everything else editors put in his way.
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