MISSOULA — A recently passed Montana law sought to ban Pride flags from being in schools and government buildings.
The Missoula City Council adopted the Pride flag as an official city flag on Monday night, which, under the law, now allows the Pride flag to once again be flown in schools and government buildings across the state.
The reaction to this decision has been mixed, however, including at the gubernatorial level, with Gov. Greg Gianforte offering criticism following the decision to approve a resolution that designates the Pride flag as an official city flag.
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Montana House Bill 819 sought to ban Pride flags from being in schools and government buildings. The law allowed for official municipal flags to be in schools and government buildings;
However, the Missoula City Council then adopted a resolution making the Pride flag an official city flag, which now allows the Pride flag to once again be in government buildings and schools under the law.
Gov. Gianforte released a statement on Tuesday, criticizing the Missoula City Council for their resolution, writing in part: “Nine members of the Missoula City Council made clear their top priority is flying a divisive pride flag over government buildings and schools — all while ignoring the city’s housing affordability crisis, raising taxes by 17% because of overspending, and refusing to take firm action to end encampments in the city.”
The governor acknowledged that two council members, Bob Campbell and Sandra Vasecka, voted against the resolution. Both council members said that their no vote was not to take a stance on political issues.
“I don't think it's government's place to dictate a symbology at a governmental level for any one particular issue, any particular one social subset,” said council member Campbell.
In a statement to MTN council member Vasecka wrote in part: “To be supportive for all of our citizens, we need to do just that. Remain neutral and uphold public trust by not taking sides either way. Adopting the Pride flag, the thin blue line flag, the BLM Flag, or the Don’t Tread on Me (Gadsden) Flag as an official City of Missoula flag does indicate a political stance, and I do not want our official city flag to choose sides.”
But for council members who voted yes — such as council members Mirtha Becerra and the resolution’s sponsor, Jennifer Savage — their decision to vote yes was in response to a law that they saw as targeting one subset of people.
“I believe that the bill that the state legislature passed leaves a lot of room for interpretation, but it's clearly targeting one group of individuals,” said council member Becerra.
“As the mother of a queer kid, queer visibility is always urgent for me. So, in consultation with several of my colleagues on council, we started looking into the Boise decision, looking into Salt Lake City, what they had done in other places, pulled some language from there, and decided to bring a resolution forward. I decided to sponsor it and sponsor it myself because it was deeply personal for me,” said Savage.
Watch previous coverage: Missoula City Council adopts Pride flag as official city flag
In a statement to MTN, council member Daniel Carlino, who also voted yes, said in part: “Governor Gianforte should know that Montana is a live and let be state, and we do not support government overreach into deciding what flags can or cannot be flown.”
The idea that the law targeted one subset of people was also echoed by Missoula Mayor Andrea Davis.
“City council passing the resolution that they did on Monday night is in direct response to the law that was passed by the legislature, where they picked winners and losers. They chose some flags that were allowable by statute and then specifically alienated other parts of the community that in fact felt marginalized and in danger after that decision that was made at the legislature,” Davis said.
Mayor Davis also told MTN that the law’s sponsor, Braxton Mitchell, a Republican from Columbia Falls, has already reached out to the city, stating that the legislature will address Missoula City Council’s decision to adopt the Pride flag in the 2027 legislative session.
