Northport Village will continue to hang pride flags and veterans banners, but not together
Residents packed Northport Village Hall this past Tuesday, June 16 to share their views on a recent decision by the mayor to remove Pride flags and relocate veteran banners in Northport Village Park.
A standing-room-only crowd filled Northport Village Hall Tuesday night as residents weighed in on a dispute over pride flags and veterans banners in Village Park.
By the end of the meeting, Village officials announced a plan that will allow both programs to remain visible while keeping pride flags and Hometown Heroes veterans banners on separate lampposts.
The issue emerged after several pride flags were removed from Village Park last week following concerns raised by the Northport American Legion. The pride flags, which have been displayed for the month of June since Northport Pridefest was first held four years ago, began sharing lampposts with Hometown Heroes banners honoring military veterans just this year.
The Northport Hometown Heroes Banner program, begun by resident Jim McKenna and the Northport American Legion, rolled out in 2024 with banners on Main Street. In 2025, more banners were added on Main Street and this year, the program expanded into Northport Village Park. Currently local residents interested in honoring a veteran in the program pay $200 to have the banner installed the first year and $100 for subsequent years. In 2025, the banners hung from May through November.
The pride flags displayed throughout the month of June are sponsored by local residents; sponsoring one flag for the month costs $100.
In a June 9 letter to Village officials, Northport American Legion Commander William McKenna said the organization had received calls, emails and visits from veterans, family members and community supporters concerned about pride flags being displayed above veterans banners.
“Many of these individuals participated in the Veterans Banner Program and are deeply troubled by the current placement of the pride flags above the banners honoring those who served our nation,” McKenna wrote.
He added that the concern was not directed at the pride flags themselves, but rather that some veterans and families felt the placement diminished the recognition intended for those honored through the banner program.
Following receipt of the letter, Mayor Donna Koch made the decision to remove the pride flags from all Village lampposts that also displayed a veteran banner. She later rescinded and instead separated the displays: half of the pride flags that shared lampposts with veterans banners were removed, while several veterans banners were relocated to a fence near the Village Park playground.
The decision prompted criticism from some residents and members of Northport Pridefest, who noted that the pride flag program had operated with Village approval for four consecutive years.
In a letter to the Village Board, organizers of Northport Pridefest, which gained 501(c)(3) status earlier this year, said the flag program was an established annual tradition and noted that the organization had purchased and installed the hardware used to display the flags in Village Park. That hardware is now shared with any other program permitted to hang flags in Village Park throughout the year.
The letter also pointed out that the Hometown Heroes program only expanded into Village Park this year. “The poles in Village Park are not the exclusive property of any single organization,” the letter stated. “They are a shared community resource, and no group holds ownership or control of them.”
Addressing the issue at Tuesday’s meeting, Koch defended her decision as a temporary measure intended to fairly represent both programs while a longer-term solution is developed, noting that Northport Village never violated any flag protocol. “The United States flag is displayed in the top position of honor,” she said.
Koch took full responsibility for the decision to remove the flags and relocate some banners . “When one agrees with both sides, as I do, it is a difficult position to mediate,” she said. “There are no winners.”
During public participation, Maureen McKenna, wife of American Legion Commander William McKenna, reiterated many of the concerns and sentiments outlined in her husband’s June 9 letter.
Several residents spoke in favor of the pride flags remaining visible, and sharing lampposts, in the Village.
Shelby LaChance, a Northport Village resident, local veteran and member of the LGBTQ+ community, said the flags helped her feel welcomed and represented in Northport. An emotional LaChance joined the Navy when she was 17 years old, right before 9/11. “Some of my friends came home, like myself, and some of us did not come home from war.”
“I’m a mother and I’m a wife and I worked in the legal system my entire adult life,” LaChance said. “And I have fought for change. When I moved to Northport I saw that the change was here.” She said she and her family have felt embraced in the past by the Northport community, despite having faced some challenges. She wants members of the LGBTQ+ community to continue to feel safe and welcomed here, she said: “I am a veteran and the American Legion does not speak for all of us veterans. I joined the military to take care of and defend this country and all of its people. I didn’t sign on the line and say ‘Just some.’”
Eileen Gorman, a resident who purchased two Hometown Heroes banners honoring veterans in her family, said she would have no objection to a pride flag hanging above either banner and suggested organizers ask banner sponsors directly how they felt about the arrangement. Gorman and her family have also sponsored flags for Pridefest, she said.
Several speakers highlighted the contributions of LGBTQ+ veterans, including those who served during the “Don't Ask, Don’t Tell” era, when many were forced to keep their identities hidden while serving their country.
Following public comment, Mayor Koch announced that pride flags, including the ones removed, will remain displayed throughout the Village but will be moved to currently vacant lamppost locations approved by the board. Three flags will be placed in Village Park near the playground, four in the Village Park parking lot, one in the Cow Harbor Park parking lot and seven in Cow Harbor Park.
Under the agreement, no Village lamppost will display both a pride flag and a veterans banner. The American flag will remain the highest-flying flag in Village Park.
Village officials also said a formal policy governing future flag and banner displays is expected to be developed to provide guidance for future boards and help avoid similar disputes.
The decision comes just days before Northport Pridefest, after which the pride flags will be taken down.
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