Alabama city bans street banners after Pride vs anti-trans ‘flag war’
Mobile – a city in Alabama has intervened following clashes between Pride and anti-trans banners (Getty Images)
Mobile, Alabama has ended private access to its downtown banner programme after Pride Month banners were followed by anti-trans banners reading “Protect Our Children From Gender Ideology”.
Pastor Travis Johnson spearheaded the banner campaign, with the slogan appearing across downtown. In an X post showing the banners over Government Street on 1 September, Johnson wrote: “Who can honestly argue with protecting children from radical gender indoctrination?” He added: “Jesus didn’t mince words about protecting children,” and: “Neither should we.”
Johnson said the banners were a response to privately funded Pride Month banners hung from public light poles in June. Speaking in a Charisma interview/article about the banner campaign, he said: “I figured if somebody could be ideological and put up their Pride Month banners, then I could be ideological and defend children and the nuclear family,” and described Mobile as “a family-oriented community, a faith-oriented community,”.
Banner programme policy change
The City of Mobile announced last week that it is ending all private access to the banner programme following the duelling Pride and anti-trans campaigns. Johnson’s banners may remain in place through the end of September, but after that, banners hung downtown will exclusively promote official city programmes and events.
Mobile Media Relations Manager Dale Liesch said private use of the banner programme “can be a distraction for staff, and take the focus away from our core mission.” Liesch said the city’s approval of the June and September campaigns, and its decision to cancel private access, should not be seen as an endorsement of either side. “The First Amendment protects lawful expression and we are simply adhering to the law,” he said. “Our commitment is to fairness, consistency and respect for all Mobilians.”
Backlash and local reaction
The Mobile Bay Democratic Socialists of America said it “strongly condemns the homophobic banners,” calling them “a feeble attempt at political grandstanding and to prove that [Johnson] has power over the city government.”
Mobile resident Bryan Fuenmayor, who was behind the Pride Month flags, said the wording went beyond a generic child-safety message. “If it was just him putting up National Child Protection Month, then it’s fine. That is a message that we could all be behind,” he said. “When he attaches the ‘protect kids from gender ideology,’ you know, that is a message that attacks a minority community, one that is very misunderstood.”
