Emo is a township of about 1,300 people located in the far west of Ontario, along the Minnesota border.
In a decision last week, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ruled that Emo, its mayor, and two of its councillors had violated the Ontario Human Rights Code by refusing to proclaim June as “Pride Month.”
The town was also cited for failing to fly “an LGBTQ2 rainbow flag,” despite not having an official flag pole.
The dispute began in 2020, when the group Borderland Pride approached the township with a written request to proclaim June as Pride Month.
Attached to the letter was a draft proclamation including clauses such as “pride is necessary to show community support and belonging for LGBTQ2 individuals” and “the diversity of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression represents a positive contribution to society.”
Emo was also asked to fly an “LGBTQ2 rainbow flag for a week of your choosing.”
Borderland Pride then asked Emo to “email us a copy of your proclamation or resolution once it has been adopted and signed.” Although symbolic proclamations are standard fare in larger municipal governments such as Toronto or Hamilton, this didn’t happen all that often in Emo.
“The record indicated the Township did not receive many requests for declarations or proclamations or requests for flag display,” the subsequent Tribunal decision would read. In a single 12-month period they received only four — two of which were from Borderland Pride.
Tribunal hearings would also reveal that Emo doesn’t really have a central flag pole, aside from a Canadian flag angled over the front door of the Emo Municipal Office.
Nevertheless, Borderland Pride’s draft proclamation was tabled before a May 2020 meeting of the Emo Township Council, where a vote of three to two defeated it.
