Dartmouth councillors have narrowly voted to approve flying a Pride flag in the town - with one saying the flag was "highly divisive" and another saying it was not necessary.
An extraordinary town council meeting discussed adding the flag to Dartmouth’s official flag policy, making it the fourteenth flag to be officially recognised and flown in the town.
Seven councillors voted in favour of the flag - and five voted against.
June is Pride Month, which is celebrated around the world. It is tied to the anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York, in June 1969, sparked by a police raid on a gay bar, and has become a celebration in LGBTQ+ communities. In an impassioned opening statement, Councillor Katie Brown addressed the chamber, saying: "I want the members of the council to understand the importance of flying the Pride Flag.
"The flag not only represents LGBTIQA+ communities, it sends a clear message that all minority groups and communities, are, and will continue to be accepted in Dartmouth."
Mayor Cllr Wells clarified the reason for the meeting, saying: "No one within this room didn't want the flag to fly. It was that policies and protocols were put in place," and that the council needed a discussion and a poll vote to resolve the addition of the flag to the 2024 flag policies and procedures for the town.
Cllr Mike Rowley said:" The LGBT+ community is not legally condemned or discriminated against in the law. It's not discriminated against in society and culture, in my opinion.
"Indeed, there are 'certain' walks of life where it is distinctly advantageous for people of that community. I refer to the performing arts and media, where they are a significant and influential group."
Cllr Rowley added: "I believe the Union Flag, which represents all of us, is sufficient to symbolize the legal, cultural, and societal rights of all citizens.
"Flying flags for specific groups on official flagpoles implies exclusivity and exceptionalism rather than equality.
“What I want, and what I believe the council already practices, is for every citizen and visitor to Dartmouth, regardless of ethnicity or sexual orientation, to be treated with dignity, equality, and respect. I don't think a flag is necessary to achieve that."
Cllr Rowley reiterated that he held no prejudice over anybody's sexuality, saying he "Personally thought it was a private matter", but he was against flying the Pride flag, which he regarded as "highly divisive".
Cllr Dawn Shepherd questioned whether allowing one group to fly a flag would put the council in a position of having to fly multiple flags representing other groups, saying: "In the interest of fairness either nobody does or everybody does, we can't pick and choose".
She added: "We can't have an in-between it would just cause trouble. I think the town is pretty great and I wouldn't want to see that kind of division."
Councillors also discussed online abuse by members of the community for their opinions and said as volunteers this was unacceptable behaviour from the community.
Cllr Katie Brown put forward the proposal that the Pride Flag was added to the list of flags Dartmouth would fly throughout the year.