Cedar Falls mayor's religious beliefs spark controversy over Pride Month proclamation
Activists entered in droves to the Cedar Falls City Hall this week to protest the mayor's public decision not to sign a proclamation declaring June as Pride Month.
But after more than an hour-and-a-half of public discussion Monday night, Cedar Falls Mayor Rob Green surprised the passionate audience when he changed his mind.
"I would say to Cedar Falls residents, we don't have to agree to support; we don't have to agree to care; we don't have to agree in order to love each other and to try to understand each other," Green said ahead of the council's vote. "So with that, I will sign the proclamation if it passes."
The council passed the resolution immediately after Green's change of heart.
Green first stirred controversy ahead of Monday's City Council meeting after he released a memo stating he would not sign the proclamation, even if the City Council passed it, due to his religious beliefs.
"As a Christian, I believe that every person is created in the image of God, and deserves love, respect, and dignity. However, my understanding of the New Testament leads me to believe that God intended marriage to be between one man and one woman; promotion or advocacy of any sexual activity outside those bounds runs counter to the tenets of the Christian faith," Green wrote in a memo to the Cedar Falls City Council on April 21.
The resolution, submitted by the city's Human Rights Commission, reaffirms the city's commitment to "supporting visibility, dignity and equality for LGBTQIA+ people in our diverse community" and calls for the month of June to be celebrated as Pride Month to educate and raise awareness on the history and current struggles of the LGBTQ community.
Celebrations of LGBTQ pride often take place across the United States in June in honor of the 1969 Stonewall uprising in Greenwich Village, which the Cedar Falls' proclamations states "sparked the modern LGBTQIA+ liberation movement."
In light of Green's stance, the Cedar Falls Human Rights Commission wrote on Facebook on April 28 that "we as a commission have no comment on Mayor Green's actual statements."
More: For LGBTQ youths, Des Moines' all-ages drag show is about more than just performing
Green's comments also sparked a wave of local activism, inspiring residents to speak at Monday's meeting and express their concerns over the contents of the memo.
"This is more than just a proclamation," said Cedar Falls resident Alaina Chinowth. "This is about acceptance. It's about representation. It's about acknowledgement that there is a group of people that exist."
Green, who has said he will not run for reelection when his term expires in January, said after so many residents personally reached out to him and expressed concern over the safety and well-being of LGBTQ members of the Cedar Falls community, he said he felt an obligation as mayor "to ensure public safety and welfare."
Through listening to community members and speaking with them one-on-one, he also said he realized he did not need to compromise his own belief system in order to support the Cedar Falls community.
"I appreciated from the comments that the advocates weren’t seeking for me to change my own beliefs, but to acknowledge the community and to demonstrate to them − by signing the proclamation − that they were welcome and safe in Cedar Falls," he wrote in an email to the Register.
Memo sparks debate over personal beliefs and public responsibility
Nearly 40 people spoke up Monday night in favor of the proclamation. Many of them, including some members of the City Council, called on the mayor to resign if he refused to sign it.
"If I do one thing in four years, it's going to be to vote for this and to stand up and say Cedar Falls is a great place to be for everyone," said council member Gil Schultz. "If the mayor doesn't sign this, I do think he should resign."
Green's memo did not say that he would entirely block the resolution from passing. Instead, he wrote that his "Christian beliefs" precluded him from signing the document. Therefore, if the proclamation passed, he would "remove the language regarding the mayor" and request a City Council member sign it instead.
Sonja Bock, the chair of the Cedar Falls Human Rights Commission, spoke directly to Green at Monday's council meeting, stating she found it "disrespectful" and "questionable" that she was not informed of Green's memo prior to its publication.
"It was a nine-point memo of his personal beliefs that affect his public position as mayor," said Bock, adding that it could be "taken as discriminatory and judgmental."
Bock raised concern that his memo could have inadvertently swayed council members' votes on the proclamation. She, along with others in attendance Monday night, also questioned the role that Green's personal beliefs should play in fulfilling his public responsibilities.
"As mayor, you are absolutely entitled to your own personal beliefs, as am I," said Cedar Falls resident Chelsea Lowe. "But they have no business in this room, or on these papers that will forever dictate the future of Cedar Falls."
"I think you should resign," said Jeremy Schraffenberger, who described Green as both a friend and a neighbor. "I do not think that your Christian faith should be on the table with your public duties. If it gets in the way, you do not belong in the mayor's office."
Green said while he ultimately decided to sign the proclamation out of concerns for the welfare and safety of his constituents, he said he still struggles with where the line lies between his personal convictions and his public duties.
"I don’t wish to impose my beliefs on the rights of others, but I also don’t want others to impose their value systems on me," he wrote in an email to the Register. "I think a lot about civics, and this is a new facet of public service I’m still working through, because this hasn’t come up as something to have to consider during my first five years of elected service."
"At this point, I believe that as political leaders, we can’t (and shouldn’t) check our faith at the front door, but we should be sensitive about our moral compass and seek to find universal values that apply to everyone, regardless of their faith (or lack thereof)," he wrote.
Francesca Block is a breaking news reporter at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at FBlock@registermedia.com or on Twitter at@francescablock3.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa mayor changes stance after refusing to sign Pride Month proclamation
