Nine years after refusing to fly the rainbow flag, Truro council has decided to honour the victims of the Orlando shootings by flying it at half-mast.
In 2007, Mayor Bill Mills refused to go along with raising the pride flag because he said he did not condone homosexuality because of his religious beliefs.
But on Wednesday, that changed.
“We live in a world where usually it takes a tragedy to bring awareness and attention to the plight of people or cultures," said Truro councillor Raymond Tynes.
Nearly 50 people were killed when a gunmen entered a gay nightclub in Orlando and opened fire early Sunday morning. Tynes and other councillors were at a vigil Monday night on the Dalhousie campus in Bible Hill to pay their respects.
“A young lady from Dalhousie AEC asked a simple question: What's the Town of Truro doing?” said Tynes. “We were at the vigil supporting, but what were we doing here? Which was a good question."
Mills declined an on-camera interview, but tells CTV Atlantic he agrees with flying the pride flag this time to honour the memories of those who died.
Councillors now say the comment made by Mills in 2007 was just one comment by one councillor, and doesn’t represent council or the Town of Truro.
They say they’re working to change the Town’s damaged reputation.
“We moved on from that,” said Truro councillor Greg MacArthur. “We did some human rights training with the province. I myself signed the human rights accord for the Town of Truro."
MacArthur says the decision to fly the rainbow flag was made easily and quickly.
“It’s 2016,” he said. “We are educated. You treat everybody as one – with respect."
Once the flag is taken down, MacArthur wants it displayed in a glass case in council chambers.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ron Shaw.
