In a viral and long-overdue moment of clarity, a Washington State mayor finally said what too many are afraid to: Don’t ever disparage veterans in front of me.
It happened during a recent city council meeting when an LGBTQ activist accused the mayor and city leaders of engaging in political trickery—specifically, flying the POW/MIA flag in June instead of the Pride flag. The implication? Honoring missing American soldiers was somehow a way to avoid “inclusion.”
Let’s stop right there.
You can wave a rainbow, a cross, or a Gadsden flag all you want—but no flag matters more than the one that drapes a coffin, lowered into the ground after a young man or woman gave everything for a country that barely remembers them.
The Viral Moment That Hit a Nerve
The activist said, “There are 20 million LGBTQ Americans, and only 82,000 MIAs.” That’s the logic. That’s the argument. That’s the “math” they used to justify the idea that honoring the dead is somehow exclusionary.
But this wasn’t just bad logic. It was insulting.
In a fiery response, the mayor—clearly emotional and righteously furious—hit back:
“This country was founded because veterans lost their lives. Hundreds of thousands of people died for this country so that you could fly your pride flag. And man, I am pissed.”
And rightfully so.
Because comparing demands for symbolic representation to the final, irreversible sacrifice of life itself is not just intellectually dishonest—it’s morally bankrupt.
The POW/MIA Flag Isn't a Political Statement—It's a National Duty
The POW/MIA flag doesn’t belong to a “political side.” It belongs to all Americans. It represents the 82,000+ soldiers who never came home—who never got to hold their children, kiss their spouses goodbye, or walk off the battlefield.
To suggest that remembering them is a tactic to avoid celebrating another group’s identity is not only tone-deaf—it’s an embarrassment to decency.
The activist said, “Let’s have some intellectual integrity.”
Okay—let’s.
Sacrifice Isn’t Equal, and That’s the Point
This may sound harsh, but it needs to be said: not all forms of struggle are equal.
Yes, members of the LGBTQ community have faced real injustice. But a flag flown in June to recognize sexual identity cannot and should not be equated with the flag flown for soldiers who were tortured, executed, or never found after laying down their lives for our nation.
You don't have to be straight, conservative, or even patriotic to understand that.
You just have to be human.
Veterans and PRIDE: Can Both Coexist? Sure. But Not Equally.
Here’s the Disruptarian position: if your cause requires diminishing someone else’s sacrifice to elevate your own, your cause is broken.
You want to fly the Pride flag? Fine. This is America.
But when you accuse others of bigotry for honoring those who gave their lives for the flag that gives you that freedom, you’ve lost the plot.
We’ve reached a dangerous cultural tipping point where inclusion has become entitlement, and where identity is weaponized to overwrite honor. That’s not progress. That’s cultural rot.
What We Should Really Be Teaching
We need to return to basic civic understanding:
- Flags don’t make you special—your actions do.
- Veterans aren’t props—they’re protectors.
- Freedom doesn’t come from hashtags—it comes from heroism.
If you want your flag flown, earn it through service—not through shaming. And never again let someone stand at a public meeting and call the honoring of the dead “disgusting.”
That mayor didn’t “lose his cool.”
He defended what’s sacred.
And we need a thousand more like him.
Final Thought: Fly Your Flag—But Salute Theirs First
Fly your Pride flag, your Blue Lives Matter flag, your Don’t Tread on Me flag. Fly them all. But fly the POW/MIA flag first. Because those are the people who made it possible.
And if that offends you?
That’s your right. But maybe take a moment to remember who gave you that right.
Reference:
My tributes to veterans from the past
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