Northport, NY Removes Pride Flags After American Legion Objects to Display Near Veterans' Tribute Banners

What Happened

The town of Northport, New York removed Pride flags from a public display after members of the local American Legion post complained that the flags had been placed alongside banners honoring veterans, according to Fox News. Northport Mayor Donna Koch confirmed she ordered the removal. "I had the Pride flags removed. It had nothing to do with my feelings about the Pride community. I support them 100%. I also support our veterans," Koch said, as reported by CBS News.

American Legion Commander William McKenna told ABC's Eyewitness News: "They were putting the pride banners above my veterans, and that does not work, sorry." McKenna also stated, "If you put a pride flag by one of my veterans, I'm taking every one of them down."

McKenna sent a letter to Koch and the village board which said, in part, "The concern being expressed is not at the pride flags themselves, nor is it intended to diminish the importance of recognizing any group within our community. Rather, many veterans and families feel that placing another banner above the veterans' banners diminishes the recognition and prominence that was originally intended for those who served our country."

The Veterans' Objection

The American Legion's concern is not hard to understand on its own terms. Veterans' tribute banners are typically organized, funded, and maintained by local posts specifically to honor service members, often deceased ones. Having other organizations attach unrelated displays to the same infrastructure, without prior coordination, is a legitimate grievance regardless of what the other flags represent. The objection isn't necessarily about the Pride flags specifically. It's about whose banner goes where and who gets to decide.

Public utility poles and municipal display infrastructure are shared resources. How a town manages competing requests for that space is a policy matter with real procedural answers.

The Strongest Counter-Concern

Jeff Cusick, treasurer for Northport Pridefest, called the situation "very offensive," according to CBS News. Cusick noted that "the Hometown Heroes program was apparently given the rights to these lamp posts from May to November, which is the entire outdoor season, and that doesn't leave room for other community members."

Opponents of the removal would argue that Pride flags represent a community of residents who also pay taxes and have an equal claim to public display space. Removing them specifically, in response to one group's complaint, signals that some residents' visibility is conditional on whether a louder group objects. That concern is reasonable. The sourced record does not clarify whether the Pride flags went through a formal permitting process equivalent to what the veterans used, or whether the lamp post arrangement gave the Hometown Heroes program effective exclusivity over the display corridor for most of the year.

What the Record Is Missing

The available sourcing — Fox News, CBS News, and ABC's Eyewitness News — does not clarify the full permitting history for the Pride flags. Key unanswered questions remain: Was there a formal town approval process for the Pride flags? Did the American Legion have an exclusive or priority arrangement for that display corridor beyond the reported May-to-November grant of lamp post rights? Has the town issued a written policy going forward?

What Comes Next

Northport should establish a clear, written, viewpoint-neutral policy for public banner displays — one that applies the same criteria to veterans' tributes, Pride flags, holiday decorations, and anything else any resident or organization wants to put up. Without that, the next dispute is guaranteed, and the outcome will again come down to who complains loudest rather than what the rules actually say.