The Chief Executive Officer of the Powassan and District Union Public Library stands by the library's request to ask the town council to fly the Pride flag during June, which council approved.
That request was met by objections by about half a dozen Powassan residents at the council meeting.
See: Several Powassan residents object to town flying Pride flag
In response to the objections, library CEO Marie Rosset said “Many people have issues with the LGBTQIA+ community” but added, “They are here to stay.”
In response to the library making the Pride flag request, Rosset said “A library is for everybody, we don't discriminate and welcome everyone. We don't force people to have our views,” Rosset added.
Rosset says it's hard being an LGBTQIA+ person in northern Ontario and they run into problems just being accepted by some people. Rosset grew up in Sudbury and says there was a time in that city when some people were not friendly to LGBTQIA+ people.
She recalled a specific incident during her 20s at work where someone asked the question of how they would react working with a gay person.
Rosset said one of her co-workers said “You just work with them, it's no big deal.”
“But the other fellow said you just shoot them,” Rosset said.
Rosset says although this was an extreme example, it still revealed what some anti-LGBTQIA+ people believed and what gay people had to endure from some members of society. Rosset says people who have "never encountered a gay person have preconceived ideas. But they are regular people like you and me.”
Rosset says it's troublesome when people wrap themselves in the Canadian flag when debating an issue.
“A flag is not to be wrapped around an individual,” she said. “It's to fly over everyone's rights and not one's individual rights.”
The resolution to council was presented by Marty Schreiter, the library's program co-ordinator, who is gay.
Rosset said she was surprised that the group of people at council was as large as it was, but adds Schreiter later got support for his presentation.
“People told Marty they were glad over what he did,” Rosset said. “And we've also had people come into the library to express their support”.
Rosset says it's not her goal to change how a person thinks about the LGBTQIA+ community adding it's the individual who has to initiate the change.
“Beliefs run deep and if you've been raised a certain way, it takes a lot to change someone's way of thinking,” she said.
The Pride flag is now being flown at the 250 Clark municipal building.
When the town council was hit with objections from the group opposed to flying the Pride flag, several said they would want their respective interest group flags also flown at the town hall building.
In an effort to keep the flag debate from becoming embroiled in political controversy, Councillor Randy Hall suggested that perhaps the best course of action was for the municipality to erect a second flag pole.
Hall said the existing flag pole would fly only the Canadian and Ontario flags while the second flag pole could fly all other flags.
“It's brilliant,” said Rosset.
She applauded Hall's effort to keep the political and non-political views of various groups from clashing and is hopeful the municipality can put up a second flag pole to avoid future controversies.
Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the North Bay Nugget. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
