Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners' recent meeting saw heated discussions and palpable tensions as a Pride Month proclamation failed to make it onto the agenda. According to WBTV, the board's chairman, George Dunlap, denied the late addition of the proclamation to the Tuesday night's agenda, sticking firmly to the procedural deadlines that call for submission 11 business days before a meeting.
Despite the procedural hiccup, Commissioner Pat Cotham, who sought to have the item added last Friday, argued for the importance of recognizing Pride. "We should do our part...we’ve done it in the past," Cotham told WBTV. "We should do it again." Dunlap and another commissioner, Elaine Powell, who voted against the addition, claimed their decision was based on the adherence to rules; however, they both expressed their support for Pride and the LGBTQ community.
Frustration from the community was evident at the meeting, with one attendee stating, "Your vote today does not validate or invalidate who I am, but it sends a message to your community, and the message will be that Pride Month was not important to you," according to a statement obtained by WCNC. This sentiment underscored the implication that the rejection to vote on the Pride proclamation was a political statement rather than a mere procedural matter.
Details of the process were revealed in an email exchange between Cotham and the county clerk, Kristine Smith, as reported by WSOCTV. Cotham, who had two co-sponsors, was informed that due to the late submission, Chairman Dunlap's approval was necessary. An eventual attempt to unanimously add the proclamation to the agenda during the dinner briefing was thwarted by Dunlap’s motion to go into a closed session, which was passed by a 5-4 vote.
The community's response emanated a clear message: adherence to procedure should not eclipse recognition of Pride Month, especially when it signifies solidarity with the LGBTQ community. As Bethany Corrigan, an LGBTQ advocate present at the meeting, expressed concern over the message being sent, reflecting on the essence of what was lost amid the procedural adherence, "I feel like we have been used and exploited in the name of procedure and that’s wrong," she told WBTV.
