West Orange Mayor Susan McCartney has responded to criticism over the removal of a painted Pride flag on the steps of Town Hall, saying she is being portrayed unfairly and outlining alternative ways to show LGBTQ visibility in the township.
The unannounced removal, which was done because the steps needed to be repaired, offended some members of the LGBTQ community and sparked backlash from advocacy organizations such as Garden State Equality (GSE), which last month organized community members to plant 100 Pride flags on the municipal grounds, chalked Pride colors onto the steps and area leading up to them, and held a rally May 31 at Town Hall.
But the mayor said the removal was “absolutely not” done out of animus toward the LGBTQ community and having the steps in such disrepair were a liability and risk factor. She continued by saying that she was alerted on April 30 that the Department of Public Works was beginning work on the steps and she pulled them off the job, explaining that she wanted to get something in place first before the Pride symbol was removed like rainbow-colored lighting for Town Hall.
What she didn’t know, McCartney continued, was that the DPW was going to come back on the following Monday to get the steps ready in time for the township’s Memorial Day observance. Once the DPW removed the painted flag from the steps, residents began to notice, and some in the LGBTQ community felt slighted, especially because the removal came so close to Pride Month. This started a wave of criticism of the mayor and township.
“I’m sad, and I’m just hurt,” McCartney said. “I’m totally sorry for the timing of it all.”
In the days and weeks after the removal, LGBTQ community members and allies from inside and outside West Orange began to express their outrage.
GSE acting Executive Director Brielle Winslow-Majette called a statement the mayor posted May 5 on the township website explaining her position “pretty tone deaf and ingenuine,” adding that it did not match the level of outrage the removal caused.
Gia Garcia, chairperson and founder of the West Orange Pride Coalition, said in a previous interview that the township’s action without communication beforehand and the timing so close to Pride Month were insensitive. “It would not be such a big deal if it hadn’t always been a struggle under her administration to get things done,” she said, adding that the township’s LGBTQ community feels disrespected.
“Those painted steps, while small, were a show that even if our country didn’t have our backs, our town did.”
At the May 31 rally, 14-year-old West Orange resident Miles — who identifies as a transgender and queer person of color and whose father asked that his last name not be used — said that now more than ever the LGBTQ community needs the township’s support in light of the hostile federal political climate.
“Those painted steps, while small, were a show that even if our country didn’t have our backs, our town did. Now that they are gone, that sense of security is gone, too,” Miles said.
Maplewood Township Committeeperson Dean Dafis, who is that nearby community’s first openly LGBTQ representative and openly gay mayor, said at the rally the he can’t “frickin’ believe” this is happening in West Orange and called that fact “ludicrous.”
According to a series of emails the mayor provided, Dafis, Winslow-Majette, the township’s Human Relations Commission, and she had been discussing ideas to find common ground and to make West Orange feel “like a safe space for LGBTQ people,” including the installation of a rainbow crosswalk like Maplewood has.
Dafis in one email said he’s available for consultation and encouraged the mayor to reach out and offered to talk over coffee or other drink.
McCartney noted the contrast in tone between the email exchange and the rhetoric toward her that Dafis used at the rally.
“We the People, Mayor Susan McCartney, we see you, and we’re coming after you. Make no mistake about it,” Dafis said.
McCartney said she was “extremely disappointed” by those remarks and was saddened and disheartened by the rally in general.
The painted flag will not be put back on the steps because of a policy in place since 2024 about not raising any flags, or having any type of visual display, on the steps of Town Hall.
“So here I’m thinking that we were going to make peace, and instead I get [a] 10-minute rant and [him] pointing at me on the steps of Town Hall that Mayor McCartney, we’re coming after you. It was so hypocritical,” McCartney said.
“It just seemed like public condemnation and shame. It didn’t seem to me that anyone was trying to rectify or help resolve the issue. It was just continually bashing,” she added.
The painted flag will not be put back on the steps because of a policy in place since 2024 about not raising any flags, or having any type of visual display, on the steps of Town Hall. The policy was put into place in response to the flying of Israeli and Palestinian flags at Town Hall in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel. The Pride symbol on the Town Hall steps had been painted prior to 2024.
On May 17, GSE led advocates in chalking Pride colors onto the steps and walkway leading up to them. The mayor responded by calling the actions “defiant activism.”
At the rally, Winslow-Majette addressed that characterization by encouraging the crowd to look at the shirt she was wearing.
“So if you read my shirt,” she said to the crowd, “it says they called us defiant activists, but that’s just a racist’s way of saying ‘good trouble.’” Winslow-Majette, who was referencing an expression coined by the late congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis, is a person of color in addition to being a sexual minority.
In response, the mayor said: “I used that term ‘defiant activism’ because that policy was already in place.” She added that Winslow-Majette did not know about the policy.
alternative ways to recognize and celebrate Pride Month while remaining consistent with existing municipal policies have been initiated.
Several alternative ways to recognize and celebrate Pride Month while remaining consistent with existing municipal policies have been initiated, according to McCartney. Those include Pride-themed messaging on the Town Hall electronic sign, exterior lighting at Town Hall, prominent street banners and ongoing discussions regarding a painted crosswalk.
In addition, the scheduled Pride Walk at the South Mountain Reservation on June 27 will bring together the WOPC, GSE, and the township’s HRC “in celebration of our community’s diversity and inclusion,” according to a statement from the mayor.
McCartney, when asked if the removal was done out of animus toward the LGBTQ community, responded: “Absolutely not. Absolutely not. It never has been, and before becoming mayor, I served on the town council for 20 years. So this has been my life’s mission … bringing the community together.”
McCartney said she is still committed and always has been committed to respecting the LGBTQ community and all citizens.
-Additional reporting by News Editor Spencer Watson.
