SURFSIDE, Fla. – Several residents of Surfside are unhappy about the decision that a pride flag will not be flown in the town.
The Mayor of Surfside, Shlomo Danzinger, spoke to Local 10 News’ Rosh Lowe about why that decision was made.
He says it came down to one thing.
“We are trying to keep the town away from liability and protect the town. That’s it,” Danzinger said.
Danzinger said the concern is that once you allow certain groups to fly the flag, it can open a Pandora’s box to hate groups and satanic groups requesting their flags to be flown.
The mayor was asked what he thinks the odds are that a satanic organization wants to fly a flag.
“Well now that this is on Twitter, the odds have improved,” he said. “This has precedence, they do go around looking for cities that do invocations so they can speak. They are doing it to disrupt. Surfside is in the media, it has eyes on it. The odds have increased.”
Some residents hold a different viewpoint.
“I can’t believe in 2022, this is what residents are dealing with,” said resident Eliana Saltzhauer.
“It’s more than just a flag, it’s a symbol that the LGBTQ community are welcomed in Surfside, that they’re accepted,” said resident Joshua Epstein.
Just last year, almost to the day, a town celebration of sorts took place as the pride flag was raised during Pride Month.
Danzinger says he is simply trying to protect the town.
“The problem is once you start taking sides, there will be people upset,” he said. “I have had many emails saying how dare you compare the gay population to Nazis. My suggestion is to read the article because that’s not what was said.”