Two local Republicans have criticized
the decision to fly a Gay Pride flag at Asheville, North Carolina
City Hall this week, comparing the city's action to those of the Nazi
movement and Adolf Hitler.
The two-story rainbow flag was hung
from the building's fourth story on Thursday as supporters and
opponents waited on two courts to rule on three cases challenging the
state's ban on gay marriage.
(Related: North
Carolina GOP leaders vow to continue fighting for gay marriage ban.)
Two Republicans, former city councilman
Carl Mumpower and former Buncombe County GOP chairman Chad Nesbitt,
criticized the city's move.
Mayor Esther Manheimer told the
Asheville
Citizen-Times that the City Council voted unanimously to
display the flag but acknowledged that she did not discuss the issue
with City Manager Gary Jackson.
“I recognize that people have
different views on these issues, and I'm sensitive to that,” she
said.
Mumpower and Nesbitt claimed that by
not holding a vote during a public meeting, the council had run afoul
of the state's open meetings law.
“There is a reason that North
Carolina instructs local elected bodies to handle their affairs in an
open and deliberate way,” the Republicans said in a statement.
“Otherwise, they would be free, such as in this case, to indulge
their personal feelings and conduct business behind closed doors and
over private phone lines.”
The
statement included a graphic of a Nazi flag flying over City Hall
(pictured).
“I am equating their methods with the
Nazi movement,” Mumpower told the paper. “They are indifferent
to the rule of law and indifferent to the vote of the people. And
that's Adolph Hitler all over again in a different disguise.”
On Friday, Mumpower and about 25 people
held up a Christian flag outside of City Hall in protest.