MAPLE HEIGHTS, Ohio — For the third time in four years, a resolution to officially recognize LGBTQ Pride Month in Maple Heights is struggling to gain traction.
During a City Council meeting Wednesday evening, council members declined to immediately adopt the resolution. Two members voted in support, three in opposition and one abstained during the roll call.
After failing to pass on its second reading, the resolution will now go to a third reading. That is scheduled for July, which is after Pride Month ends.
The agenda item drew a crowd of Maple Heights residents to the council meeting. Several spoke in support of the measure.
“I’ve been here three times already concerning Pride," one community member told council during public comment Wednesday. "And if you don’t know what Pride is, it’s a fight we had to go through.”
LGBTQ Pride traditionally marks the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, when a 1969 police raid at a New York bar sparked demonstrations for LGBTQ rights.
The proposed Maple Heights resolution mentions the anniversary and says the city welcomes all people, denounces prejudice and appreciates the contributions of the LGTBQ community.
It is not a statute, and supporters say it's a symbolic gesture.
“All we’re asking is for you to recognize gay pride. That’s all we’re asking. We’re not asking you to fly to flag all year round,” one person said Wednesday.
While Pride Month is underway celebrating the LGBTQ community, a former local lawmaker says the joy has been stolen from his city.
It comes after he says Maple Heights City Council has once again refused to pass a resolution to formally recognize Pride Month and its LGBTQ residents.
"It just says we are invisible and we do not matter," said former Maple Heights City Councilman Richard Trojanski.
News 5 covered a similar scenario three years ago when Trojanski introduced a Pride Month resolution in Maple Heights.
RELATED: Maple Heights City Council votes down resolution to designate June as Pride Month
As a lifelong Maple Heights resident and the city's first openly gay city council person, Trojanski says it has become frustrating to be a member of the LGBTQIA+ community and live in an environment that won't recognize it.
"You know, Pride Month should be about equality and fairness," Trojanski said.
He says he loves his Maple Heights community and the people that have helped shape it.
But he says doesn't feel the same love back from some of his former constituents on City Council.
Trojanski served more than a decade as a council person, and he says he was the first openly gay elected council president in the state up until 2023, when he left council.
"There's so many good things happening, and this is sets us back," Trojanski said.
Another resident, who said he is not part of the LGBTQ+ community, told News 5 the resolution could make the city more welcoming.
“They work like I do. Some might have better jobs, some might have better business, some might have business in Maple or could have business in Maple to benefit Maple,” said Ozell Dobbins.
In 2021, Trojanski introduced a similar resolution to honor Pride Month.
"There was enormous backlash from council members saying their relationship preferences or they weren't comfortable, they were uncomfortable, supporting the LGBTQ community as well," Trojanski said. "It's about this resolution. It's about inclusion and treating all people with respect and dignity regardless of whether you approve of their lifestyle or not."
Councilwoman Toni Jones introduced the current resolution to recognize June 2024 as LGBTQ Pride Month and declared it an emergency.
According to the agenda, it was "For the public peace, safety and general welfare of the city to further support."
Prior to Wednesday's vote, it stirred conversation between council members.
“This resolution was introduced last month, which was the middle of May, in anticipation of recognizing Pride month as the entire month of June. We are now at June 6,” the resolution sponsor said.
Another council member called it a "political ploy."
“There’s nothing anywhere that says, ‘Oh you can’t have a business here or you can’t buy your home here.’ Nobody’s said, ‘We don’t want your money because you’re LGBT,’” said Tina Stafford-Marbury.
In a statement earlier in the week, Jones told News 5 that she introduced the resolution to recognize LGBTQ residents and denounce prejudice:
"It is unfortunate that each time this resolution was introduced in the past there was no strong commitment from City Council to appreciate the importance of equity and freedom. By not accepting this resolution, it gives the impression that our City does not accept diversity and gives a negative impression of my City's image as not being a welcoming community. I introduced this resolution in order to recognize our residents that are part of the LGBTQ community in Maple Heights and show that we denounce prejudice based on sexual orientation or gender identity. We are elected to represent our constituents, and I don't believe we need to take a 'poll' from the residents we represent in order to pass this resolution. I was not surprised that the legislation did not pass on first reading, however I would like to know the reasoning behind the other Councilors' resistance for passage. Our next meeting is Wednesday, June 5th at the Maple Heights Senior Center and I hope that they will reconsider."
News 5 also reached out to Maple Heights City Council members for further comment about the issue.
We received the following statement from at least one member saying quote:
"Resolution 2024-44, to which you referenced, has not passed on the requested emergency bases only. It has been placed on "First Reading" and will continue through the ordinary process. Respectfully, Councilwoman Stafford-Marbury Maple Heights, Ohio"
Kenyon Farrow, Board President of the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, says this latest failed vote shows a clear bias and discrimination by some members.
"We will continue the hemorrhage the population because of things like this," Farrow said.
He says it further illustrates how much work still needs to be done.
Farrow says the actions thus far could keep prospective residents from moving here and feeling safe.
"So it's not a law, it's not a policy. You're not even allocating funding towards any particular thing. You're simply saying we as the city of, of Maple Heights recognize the Pride Month, which it is Pride Month literally all over the world," Farrow said.
