HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-08-25 Public Comment - J. Gattiker - Public CommentFrom:Jasper Gattiker
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Public Comment
Date:Tuesday, July 8, 2025 11:04:42 AM
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Doing nothing is not the same thing as being neutral. When people publicly call for the removalor exclusion of their queer neighbors from public life, doing nothing tells those neighbors that
Bozeman as an institution does not support all its citizens. Doing nothing tells your neighborsthat the City of Bozeman will not even attempt to navigate the law to uphold a decision that has
been on the books for two years. That is- to continue acknowledging its queer citizens in theface of legislation attempting to dictate bathroom use, deny parents the right to seek certain
kinds of medical care for their children, and instead enshrine the right of people to bedisrespectful and even downright cruel. The decision to fly the flag was made two years ago. At
first, I barely noticed. I thought it was neat, but I didn’t understand what it meant to people.
A few months ago, I was going grocery shopping with a friend. I pointed out the flag as wepassed City Hall. What my friend told me changed how I view the pride flag.
She said: “You know, Jasper- I use that flag as a gauge of whether or not I am safe in Bozeman.
The day the flag comes down is the day I know I need to run.”
I thought about her in May when Bozeman took down the pride flag. I reached out to her,because I wanted to make sure she knew that this wasn’t a local decision. That Bozeman was
just following orders.
The pride flag does not exclude anyone. It doesn’t tell anyone to leave. It doesn’t signify apolitical affiliation. It doesn’t inherently instigate a fight. What it does do is signal to your
friends, your neighbors, your children- to everyone, that the City of Bozeman values all itspeople, even the ones whose very existence is called divisive and controversial. People are
already leaving Bozeman because they think they are no longer safe in Montana. I knowfamilies who have left their generational homes to find a safer place for their queer children. I
know of older adults who are leaving Montana because they worry they won’t be able to defendthemselves as they age in a state that is weirdly obsessed with legislating how certain people
live their private lives.
Unfortunately, the current default assumption we must make is that some very vocal peopleeither don’t want to see us in their community or don’t care whether we get pushed out. Seeing
the Pride flag in front of City Hall used to tell us that the city valued us as citizens despite thatopposition. The Pride flag signaled safety, and I really hope people can see that this is why
we’re concerned about whether the flag goes back up or stays down. We aren’t concernedbased on vanity. We’re concerned about whether Bozeman as a city will visibly recommit to
supporting its LGBTQ+ citizens.