Dear Editor:
I am ashamed to hear that it took a public outcry for the officials of Cole County to change their stance on lowering the flag for the victims of the Orlando shooting. We lower our flag whenever a tragedy on a large scale occurs in our country.
We lowered our flags for 9/11, we lowered our flags for Aurora, for Columbine, for Newtown, for San Bernardino, for Chattanooga, for Paris. To elect not to lower our flags for the victims of Orlando is nothing short of unconscionable.
This is the deadliest mass shooting we have ever had. What makes it less of a tragedy than Roseburg? Than Washington Navy Yard? The loss of life at a large scale due to the hatred of one individual is always a tragedy. Always.
For my county to elect in this specific instance to not lower our flags speaks to me only of hate, of exclusion. The view that those on the LGBTQ spectrum were lesser was the entire origin of the attack; this was a hate crime. Our county has just propagated that view by not honoring the victims as others have been honored.
I am disappointed, I am sickened, and I am angry. It is not right that as a human being I have just been shown by my officials that my life, as a person on the LGBTQ spectrum, is worth less to them than the life of someone who is not queer. What's more, it was only the public outcry that persuaded our commissioner to change his vote. It is shameful to see that our public officials do not believe that all people are indeed created equal.
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