COUNCIL FLYING RAINBOW FLAG WITHOUT AUTHORITY

BY continuing to fly the rainbow flag over our community’s civic centre, Surf Coast Shire council is claiming to represent the Surf Coast community’s views to the Australian Government.

It is clear, however, from the numerous representations made by constituents to individual councillors, a limited survey of the Surf Coast community in the Lorne Ward and considerable commentary in the popular press that council does not have community authority to represent it on the issue of marriage equality.

I estimate that at least 80 per cent of the Surf Coast community objects to council taking this action.

Most members of our community who don’t support council flying the rainbow flag are not homophobic or bigoted, they simply object to a political representation being made by their council in their name using their civic centre without their authority.

I support the right of every member of our community to make their own representations to government.

I have invested in a flagpole at my home and will be raising the rainbow flag this weekend to demonstrate personal support for the LGBTI+ community.

That is an entirely different concept from council forcing an unauthorised representation on our community — and therefore misrepresenting our community to the Federal Government.

It is particularly inappropriate to call this ‘leadership’.

Leadership means bringing people along with you, not saying something on their behalf that they don’t wish you to say. Cr Heather Wellington, Barrabool