Members of the Montezuma County Patriots and a co-organizer of the Walk for Justice and Peace met to clarify the meaning behind a flag used in the Walk for Justice Saturday mornings.
Raleigh Marmorstein, a co-organizer for the Walk for Justice, wore a flag over her shoulders that is a “progressive, inclusive version of the gay pride flag,” she said.
The colors in the flag go beyond the gay pride rainbow flag to represent Black people and brown people in the LGBTQ community, as well as transgender people, bisexual people and others who feel they have not been fully represented in the movement for equality, she said.
“There’s just this evolution, and artists looking to include themselves,” she said.
Some members of the Montezuma County Patriots were unsure of the meaning behind the flag, and claimed it was a “pedophile flag,” Marmorstein said.
Lynnette Ward and Mari McGee agreed to meet with Marmorstein at the Ute Coffee Shop to discuss the meaning behind the flag.
McGee said Marmorstein’s flag looked similar to a flag symbolizing “non-offending minor attracted persons,” a group that attempts to soften the idea of pedophilia by insisting it’s not wrong if there is no contact.
“That is not the flag being flown, but it does look similar in certain lighting,” McGee said in a statement to The Journal.
For Marmorstein, the claim that the flag she wears is a “pedophile flag” is “heinous defamation.”
Marmorstein is a school psychologist and a mandated reporter of children who might be experiencing abuse.
“We are so deeply committed to helping children, and it is legally our job,” Marmorstein said.
But she said she is grateful that McGee and Ward were willing to participate in a dialogue about the flag.
Cortez Mayor Mike Lavey said a mediator from Durango contacted him and is willing to mediate a roundtable discussion with both the Walk for Justice and the Patriots, if members of both groups are willing to participate.
ehayes@the-journal.com
