Reading, Pennsylvania Mayor Wally Scott
on Saturday announced that he had changed his mind and decided to
allow a rainbow flag to fly outside City Hall for the first time in
the city's history.
The rainbow or Pride flag is a symbol
of the LGBT rights movement.
Scott canceled the flag-raising
ceremony on Monday, saying that he sees the flag being displayed on
government buildings as a “political movement.”
According to the Reading Eagle,
Scott posted a video on his Facebook page explaining his change of
heart.
“I told them they can put the flag
up,” he said. “I just asked them to keep the politics out of it.”
“What I am interested in is that the
people that the flag represents have suffered.”
Scott said that he changed his mind
after hearing from a “very prominent woman,” whom he refused to
name.
“She told me about the first time she
realized she was gay,” he said. “She told me she remembers the
day when she told her mother.”
The LGBT Center of Greater Reading,
which had previously denounced Scott's decision as “unacceptable
discrimination,” welcomed his new position.
“The LGBT Center of Greater Reading
recognizes that the change of heart experienced by Mayor Wally Scott
is exactly in alignment with our mission, our hopes for the
community, and what we will continue to work toward in the future,”
said
Michelle Dech, the group's executive director. “Education is
our primary purpose and today's events highlight the importance and
value of interpersonal relationships in changing attitudes and
policies at the local level.”