Missouri County Will Lower Flags to 'Mourn' Marriage Equality

Upset that the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage last month, the Dent County Commission voted Monday to observe one year of "mourning."

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By Doug Moore

Upset that the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage last month, the Dent County Commission voted Monday to observe one year of "mourning."

That will come in the form of lowering the flags at the Dent County Courthouse and the Judicial Building to below half-staff on the 26th of each month for a year, running from July to June. The Supreme Court voted on June 26 to strike down constitutional bans on same-sex marriage throughout the country, including one that had been in place in Missouri since 2004.

"It ain't what our Bible tells us. It's against God's plan," County Commissioner Gary Larson said. The Supreme Court decision is "just one step backward," he said.

Presiding Commissioner Darrell Skiles brought the matter forward on Monday; Larson and Commissioner Dennis Purcell both agreed to the year of mourning. Skiles, in an unusual action, filed a letter into the public record officially protesting "the U.S. high court's stamp of approval of what God speaks of as an abomination."

Skiles detailed his opposition to same-sex marriage in the letter and said that lowering the flags once a month will remind people "of this despicable Supreme Court travesty." The letter was obtained by a reporter with The Salem News, who attended the meeting and first reported the vote on the paper's website.

The commission's decision quickly spread through the Missouri county of 15,000, just south of Rolla, and social media carried it well beyond mid-Missouri boundaries. A Dent County resident quickly began an online petition to "Stop Act of 'Mourning Gay Marriage' By Lowering Flags Below Half Mast." Salem resident Alex Sellers posted the petition as action by "The Organization of Reasonableness of Dent County"

"While it is understood that individual commissioners may disagree with this Supreme Court ruling and have every right to voice their individual opinions, it is inappropriate for them to take action such as that described which projects their opinions as those of the entire community," Sellers wrote in his petition posted on change.org.

"The act of lowering the American flag from full height has long been a way for communities to mourn local and national tragedies. To compare the Supreme Court ruling on homosexual marriage rights to those tragedies in any way is an insult to both the tragedies that have been previously mourned in this manner and the basic principles of government under which the United States operates that led to this court decision, not to mention those personally affected by the ruling," Sellers wrote.

In an interview, Sellers, 26, said he knew almost immediately that the action of the commissioners would cause a stir and he did not want it to appear that all residents of Dent County share the feelings of the three elected commissioners, all Republicans. When Sellers first saw the story posted by his local newspaper, he thought it was a joke, written by a satirical site such as The Onion.

"Even if this doesn't change their minds, I wanted it out there that we're not all a bunch of closed-minded individuals mourning the Supreme Court decision," Sellers said. "This is not just a backward place. There's another side of this."

Larson, who runs an auto body shop, said he did not know Skiles planned to bring the flag-lowering idea before the commission on Monday.

"Ironically, I was wanting to do the same thing, but didn't know if we had the power to do it," Larson said. Commissioners consulted with a county attorney regarding flag etiquette and were told they were on solid legal ground, he said.

Larson said the action represents the opinions of the commissioners, not all county officials. Dent County is issuing marriage licenses, said Recorder of Deeds Cindy Ard. Only one couple has applied so far, she said.

(c)2015 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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