HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-07-25 Public Comment - M. Whittaker - Public Comment- Pride FlagFrom:Mike
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Public Comment- Pride Flag
Date:Friday, July 4, 2025 9:46:54 AM
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To the City of Bozeman,
My name is Mike Whittaker. I am a nontraditional biomedical
engineering student at Montana State University and a special
education paraprofessional at a middle school here in Bozeman. I am
also a gay Montanan.
My roots are in Montana, and having lived elsewhere for a number of
years, a significant reason I returned is because of our culture of
community. My homeland is a unique place in that we treat each other
as fellow Montanans, not as political rivals. Regardless of what political
party we associate with or opinions we have, Montanans have always
shielded each other from the partisan assaults that are common in
areas of the country that do not share our ideal of state comradery.
These days, unfortunately, I am greatly discouraged by the influence of
non-Montanan cultural ideas infiltrating our politics and our
communities. Exorbitantly wealthy people from out-of-state are using
their money to shift our way of thinking, trying to divide us and strip us of
our state identity. We ought to support each other because we are a
community of Montanans, but foreign influence wants us to play their
game; to be under their control.
Bozeman is a key player in this moment in Montana politics, and our
decisions as a city will set a standard for how the state defines
community. Bozeman is the quintessential stronghold of our values as a
state; everyone who cares to enjoy our way of life, to live in and
appreciate the Last Best Place, flocks here because we are the city that
accepts all who want to be Montanan. The political elite, both at a
national and state level, are focussed on separating us from our identity
as a state and as a people, but we cannot let them.
Bozeman needs to make the statement to the rest of Montana,
and to the nation as a whole, that we refuse to create a rift in our
community. Adopting the gay pride flag as an official city flag is not an
endorsement of homosexuality, it is a statement to politicians that are in
power that they will not strip us of our community; they will not divide us
based on something as superficial as sexual preference. In this
moment, we as a community must decide to be fellow Montanans above
all else. An attack on any member of our community is an attack on our
identity as a people. We must push back and adopt the pride flag as an
official flag of the city of Bozeman.
Thank you for your consideration,
Mike Whittaker