‘Tone deaf’ proposal to ban pride flags, among others, meets dead end

A freshman legislator rushed to block his own bill from advancing through the state Legislature after he compared support of the LGBTQ community to supporting Nazi ideology. 

House Bill 2113 would have banned any flag other than the approved flags of the United States, POW and MIA flags, the Arizona flag, Arizona Indian Nations flag, first responder flags, historic American flags, and “blue star service or a gold star service” flags from being displayed on government property.

The bill draws similarity to Trump’s “one flag policy” that banned consular posts from flying any flags other than that of the US–taking aim at diversity efforts in government institutions.

Pride flags, which were hung from Arizona’s executive tower for the first time by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, would have been prohibited from being flown moving forward.

READ MORE: Continued state-level attacks on LGBTQ+ Arizonans fall in line with Trump’s executive orders

The bill’s author, Rep. Nick Kupper, R-Surprise, previously said the bill is not a freedom of speech issue, but a government speech issue. Legislative attorneys disagreed, however, and told lawmakers that HB2113 could violate the First Amendment. 

Undeterred, Republicans in the House passed Kupper’s bill with an amendment that the measure would not “deny civil and political liberties guaranteed by the United States and Arizona constitutions,” and sent it to the Senate for approval.

A sloppy defense

Kupper’s bill was well on its way to the governor’s desk when it was suddenly held in committee mid-debate. While Kupper later claimed he did so because he believed Gov. Katie Hobbs would veto it anyway, it’s unclear why this would be a deterrent, as Republicans have sent hundreds of “dead on arrival” bills to Hobbs since she took office in 2023.

However, Kupper’s comments during the Senate Government Committee meeting offer insights into the odd procedural death he dealt to what would have been his first passed piece of legislation.

In his initial defense of the bill, Kupper was adamant that his proposal wasn’t designed to target the LGBTQ community; it was merely to require a more apolitical demeanor from public employees.

“This bill is definitely not about any one particular flag or anything crazy like that,” Kupper said in the bill’s committee hearing last week. “This bill is literally about bringing down political temperatures.”

But in a Tweet earlier this year, Kupper seemed to take a dig at flags representing the LGBTQ community, and Black Lives Matter flags.

My bill in AZ, HB2113, does just what you’re asking. And it’s being heard today in committee. https://t.co/k4f7wQ4YPP

— Nick Kupper (@realnickkupper) January 22, 2025

Kupper also inaccurately claimed that all first-responders are government employees, as evidence for why he included first-responder flags—or “blue lives matter” flags in the list of acceptable flags.

The lawmaker touted the bipartisan support he supposedly gathered for his bill—but only two of the 40 Democrats in the Legislature voted for the measure.

Kupper emphasized that his bill would not only ban pride flags, but also a Nazi flag and a confederate flag, or “flags that are not basically neutral to our government here in the state of Arizona.” 

Sen. Lauren Kuby, D-Tempe, questioned Kupper, and pointed out how vague the language of Kupper’s bill was—which could lead to violating lawmakers’ freedom of speech. Kuby was cut off, however, by committee chair Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, who told her she had to save her critiques for when the bill was to be voted on by the committee.

But the vote never came. Although it’s unclear when, at some point after Kupper began his defense of the bill, he asked that the bill be held instead of voted on. The next day, he announced he would be abandoning the bill altogether.

First-amendment violations 

The proposal doesn’t specify the difference between “public speech” and “private speech,” which would dictate whether or not an elected official could display what the bill would classify as a prohibited flag on their desk.

Kupper amended his bill to address previous concerns that it would have prevented lawmakers from displaying flags on their desks, and restricted teachers from displaying certain flags in their classrooms.

His amendment specified that the restriction on the display of a flag on public property does not apply, if it prohibits any approved educational curriculum, he said in the bill’s committee hearing. 

But the amendment’s language was unclear if it would have given teachers free reign to continue to display the flags they choose, if the flag was unrelated to school curriculum — such as a pride flag, when there are no topics related to the LGBTQ community taught. 

And even with the amendments, opponents of the bill said it was still overly broad, and violated the First Amendment rights of public employees and elected officials. 

Harrison Redmond, a lobbyist with the ACLU of Arizona, said the bill is not neutral, and instead, an attack on the LGBTQ community. 

“The pride flag is more than just fabric, it is a lasting and empowering symbol of inclusivity and belonging for a community that has long faced discrimination just for being who they are,” Redmond said. “This bill is a thinly veiled attempt to send the asinine message that LGBTQ+ individuals are not welcome in public spaces.”

Legislators focusing on the wrong issues 

Raquel Mamani, a 25-year education veteran, and teacher in the Madison School District is angered that these are the bills legislators are focusing on. 

As public schools close, and the Trump administration begins dismantling the Department of Education—culture war issues shouldn’t be the focus, Mamani said. 

Over a dozen schools in Arizona have closed or will close at the end of the 2024-25 school year due to taxpayer dollars being diverted away from public schools and into supporting private schools.

“Not only do I think it’s a terrible waste of time, but I’m insulted by their [legislators] lack of empathy and care for what’s happening in their communities around them, and the tone deafness of…closing the Department of Education,” Mamani said. 

Something as small as a pride flag hung up in a classroom can send a nonverbal message to a student who feels vulnerable and marginalized, that their teacher is a welcoming and safe space for them, she said. 

“It’s maddening and completely mind blowing, that [that is] what the Legislature feels like they need to be doing right now, and I know they’re taking their cues from the person that is in the White House right now,” Mamani said.

READ MORE: Arizona’s educators are tired of national and state lawmakers targeting their most vulnerable students