The Pride flag will not fly during pride month in West Lincoln this year.
As all Niagara municipalities raised the flag at the beginning of Pride month, West Lincoln did not.
Some residents voiced their concern on a local FaceBook page with one man saying as a gay man living in Smithville he feels the community is not very inclusive.
Pride Niagara says 'there was a miss communication, and the township didn't receive email requests.'
Officials from West Lincoln have since reached out to Pride Niagara and apologized for the confusion.
Pride Niagara Chairperson, Enzo De Divitiis, says the township 100% wanted to, and still do, be a part of the celebration of Niagara's LGBTQ+ community .
"Pride Niagara focuses on the acknowledgement and accountability of our community with our allies, and West Lincoln has now followed up on both."
We reached out to Mayor Dave Bylsma who told CKTB there is a procedure that flag raisings go through.
He says 'all requests of this type are to be sent to the clerk and put on the council agenda one month prior to the event. A vote on council and a supplied flag and a date are chosen beyond that. '
Township council meets on the fourth Monday of each month, making June 22nd the next time council meets.
One councillor is calling on the Mayor to hold a special meeting. Read more on the that here.