title:  Florida GOPer Wants LGBT Flag Removed Because She Spoke With One Christian Who Found It Offensive
text: A rainbow flag raised to honor the LGBT victims in the worst mass shooting in American history is in danger of being removed from the Hillsborough County center in Tampa Bay, Florida, because a Republican official said she talked to a Christian (singular) who said the flag was  unbearable.  Priorities!The pride flag was raised just hours after Hillsborough s commissioners voted 5-1 to hang the flag for the remainder of the month both in acknowledgement of it being Pride Month and in honor of the victims of Orlando, many of whom were LGBT and whose killer was reportedly vehemently anti-gay.Rather than see this as a symbol of unity during the wake of a national tragedy, one Republican commissioner, Stacy White, decided to make this all about fake Christian oppression. Apparently, just seeing the rainbow colors has caused one of her constituents to feel like she can t even drive to work. In an email sent to her fellow commissioners, White complains about how the rainbow flag might be harming those with  strong Christian values. Warning: Her letter is bonkers.My office recently received an anonymous phone call from a county employee stating that, because of her strong Christian beliefs, it will be nearly unbearable for her pass the  pride  flag each morning as she enters the workplace. She clearly indicated that the display of that flag, for her, has created a hostile work environment.My question is, given the nature of this employee complaint, has the board s action taken this past Wednesday created any issues for the county from a Human Resources perspective? If the display of this flag exposes the county any liability whatsoever, I request that it be taken down on the basis that the board s action has violated the workplace rights of some of our employees.White closed her letter out by referring to the Pride Flag as a  divisive, politically-charged symbol  inappropriate for  our workplace. In a country that still routinely displays a flag used in the Civil War to rally around slavery on state property, you may need a microscope and a very steady hand to create a violin small enough to play for White s pity party here. It s also particularly astounding that Republicans can somehow take a hate crime perpetuated on (mostly) LGBT Latinos and somehow make it all about them.Ironically, in the days after the shooting, Republicans shamelessly attempted to leverage the raw emotions of the LGBT community to make the, frankly insulting, pitch that the gay community should vote for Republicans because they could keep them safe from Muslims. The LGBT community, having had decades of experience in picking up on when they are being pandered to, gave the GOP a resounding middle finger and instead demanded America solve a much more dangerous problem: Guns.Apparently, having realized gay people weren t taking the bait, Republicans have reverted back to bashing them instead. Now, just a week after the shooting, Commissioner Stacy White is unflinchingly accusing a symbol of their pride of being  unbearable  to Christians. In several other Republican-dominated counties across America, officials have also refused to honor President Obama s request to lower their flags to half-mast based on technicalities. An obnoxious form of grandstanding meant to signal to their most bigoted voters that they don t really like gay people, so please don t vote them out.Thankfully in Hillsborough at least the other commissioners seem to have an ounce of common decency. Faced with White s pitiable letter, they kindly told her to shove it.Featured image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images