Sign's message creates concern, inspires fundraising in community

Jun. 23—A message board sign at the southwest corner of St. Louis Avenue and Zora Street has raised concerns about its messages and the safety of the sign.

In reaction to the sign's messages, a Joplin woman started a fundraising effort for a billboard to express inclusion in the community.

McKenna Pulsipher first saw the sign on several May 20 Facebook posts. It's a large, orange message board sign, similar to the ones used to alert drivers to construction and detours. The sign flashed two messages in illuminated letters, "Take back the rainbow" and "There are only two genders."

Pulsipher said she went to the corner immediately after work that morning with a rainbow flag and a sign of her own that read, "Only cowards hide behind signs." She returned to the corner for three more days, joined by a few other people.

"I feel like if you're going to put something up like that, you need to stand right by it and wave at everybody," Pulsipher said of the message on her sign. "If you're going to be that hateful and exclusionary, you have to own it."

On her first day at the corner, Pulsipher said she met Sid Davis, who owns the message board sign. The group talked with him about the messages, and he was firm in his stance that the Bible states there are two genders, Pulsipher said.

On May 22, Davis changed the sign to advertise for the upcoming March for Jesus, Pulsipher said.

Pulsipher works in the community to provide safe events for families with LGBTQ children. She is also a mother of a child who she said is gender nonconforming. When she saw the sign, Pulsipher said she knew immediately its message was detrimental not only to adults who identify as LGBTQ, but kids as well.

She said all she wants at this point in her life is better for children and better for the future, Pulsipher said.

"There's just no room for this hateful division anymore," Pulsipher said. "With the mounting of national anti-trans, anti-drag, anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation, that I feel like these bills are giving otherwise closeted extremists permission to publicly do these types of things. We have to, as a community, do all we can to show those who need it they are supported."

Rainbow symbol

Sid Davis, owner of Big John's Heavy Equipment, said he owns the sign but wouldn't confirm he owned the land where the sign was located.

"Everyone who knows me know I own that sign," Davis said.

According to the Beacon's map of Jasper County, a real estate search site used on the Jasper County assessor's page, the corner property is owned by a company called Iconic Developers based out of Dallas, Texas. The Texas secretary of state's website lists Iconic Developers as a limited-liability company formed in 2022, and the managing agent as Muhammad Salman Kahtri. The Globe wasn't able to reach Iconic Developers or Kahtri.

Davis said the reason he put up the messages is that he believes the LGBTQ community is trying to take over the rainbow as a symbol, and that from a Christian position the rainbow belongs to God.

"The rainbow comes after any storms," Davis said. "It is not to be redefined by wickedness and evil."

Since the sign has been active, Davis said he has received many phone calls encouraging him, saying the message is true.

Safety issue?

Beyond the sign's messages, Pulsipher said she has concerns the message board sign creates confusion and is a safety issue. She took these concerns to the Joplin City Council on June 5 and June 20.

Pulsipher said she has been in contact with Tony Robyn, Joplin assistant city manager, and Marvin Morris, area engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation's Southwest District. Both had told her their departments had received complaints about the sign, she said.

Both Morris and David Mitchell, senior communications specialist for MODOT, said the department does not have any jurisdiction over the sign.

At the June 20 Joplin City Council meeting, Pulsipher handed out a packet of information to the panel members that included photos of the sign and screenshots of city codes regulating signs.

Addressing the council, Pulsipher established the sign is in the city limits and is subject to city codes that cover any sign, business or nonbusiness. Pulsipher read Section 6-37, point 9, of the city code, stating that no ideological sign shall exceed 20 square feet in size. She said the message board sign is bigger than allowed.

Pulsipher also cited a city code in the same section prohibiting signs "that may be confused with or construed as a traffic control sign, signal or device, or the light of an emergency or road equipment vehicle, by reason of their size, location, movement, content, coloring or manner of illumination." She said she believes the color, size and illumination of the sign violates that specific code as well.

She also said she believes that confusion is a safety issue, since the nature of the sign makes this look like a city-endorsed message. She noted that Davis has freedom of speech, and he can make his own sign within code. Pulsipher also insists the sign's message goes against the city's previous statements of inclusion.

"I'm going to keep going to the council until they address this issue, and at the very least have him remove that message from that particular sign," Pulsipher said in an earlier interview. "I would love for them to take it seriously."

City officials said they are careful of regulating speech under city codes that govern signs.

"It's always a sticky situation when government gets involved with First Amendment issues," said Troy Bolander, director of planning and development for Joplin.

Bolander said what gave the city guidance to many of these issues was the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court case of Reed vs the town of Gilbert. The decision saw the court unanimously invalidate an ordinance that treated signs differently based on their content.

As a result of this, Bolander said, the code regulating size of ideological signs can't be enforced because the city can't judge signs as ideological. While the city can regulate things like time, place and manner of a sign, it can't say a sign is ideological and regulate its size.

What's left in the enforceable city code is that in a commercially zoned district, like at St. Louis and Zora, an individual can have a portable sign of that size, Bolander said. He also noted the city plans to update the codes governing signs in the future.

As to any city code regulating the sign for resembling a traffic control sign, Bolander said the city wants to be extremely careful using the appearance and mechanism of the sign to regulate speech.

"He could put a message on there "I don't like the Joplin city planner," Bolander said. "I could probably try to regulate by saying that's on a traffic control sign, but that would be illegal because now we're regulating content."

Bolander also noted these types of signs have been used in the area for things like advertising and special events, which is something that's allowed under city code.

Robyn addressed concerns that the message on the sign might be confused for a city-endorsed statement.

"I think there's a reasonable expectation that the city doesn't endorse specific messaging on signs that may appear to be official signs," Robyn said, while noting he is happy to talk with people reaching out about city issues or concerns.

For his part, Davis said he believes the sign doesn't violate any city codes. The sign doesn't display traffic information, so it can't be mistaken for a traffic sign, he said. If the sign is too big for an ideological sign, he'll replace it with a smaller sign. He also said the city hasn't contacted him about the sign.

Davis declined to answer several other questions about the sign, instead steering the interview to questions of the religion of the reporter.

Currently, the message on the sign has changed again to "John 12:32." The New International Version of the verse reads "And I, when I am lifted up from earth will draw all people to me." Davis has translated to the verse's ending to read "all men and women" on the sign. He has added three crosses to the site as well, with the center sign reading "Your Choice" and two arrows pointing to the neighboring crosses.

After protesting at the sign, Pulsipher started fundraising for an inclusive message, something that cannot be vandalized or removed.

Through a GoFundMe campaign, she raised $2,000 for a billboard. She hopes to find a spot for it in a high traffic area, and the billboard's design is being finalized this week. The proposed billboard has a pride flag with the words "You Belong Here" in script next to it. A QR code on the billboard links to available community resources.

Also listed on the billboard will be the nonprofits working with her, Julie Joplin Media, Joplin for Justice, Food Not Bombs, South Joplin Christian Church, JOMO Equality and Pulsipher's own group, Southwest Missouri All for Love and Love for All. She hopes the organization's inclusion will also let people know about help available in the area.

That Davis' sign is on display during Pride Month makes it even more important to Pulsipher to send a clear message there are people here who do not believe this. She said it can be more detrimental for people to deny those things and not live like they feel they were born to live.

"During this month, it can be very disheartening to see something that goes against that," Pulsipher said. "This month is not only for LGBTQIA+, it's for everyone. We don't want to exclude anybody. I feel like Pride Month is about inclusion, period. Even for people who don't agree with us. We don't want to exclude them."