UPDATE/CORRECTION: 6-19-2025, 7:04 pm - According to County Attorney Matt Enrooth, Butte hasn't officially adopted the Pride Flag; rather, Butte is flying the City of Missoula's flag because they adopted it as their official flag.
Citing a rich history of diversity, the Butte Council of Commissioners has joined Missoula in solidarity and will fly the Pride Flag after a state law recently banned the flag from flying at government facilities.
"I’m here tonight to show my support for Butte to continue its long-standing tradition of displaying the Pride Flag here at the courthouse during June," says Heidi Doxey, the President of the Butte Pride Foundation.
The local nonprofit that brought the proposal to support the adoption of the Pride Flag. Citing an excerpt from the new state law that allows traditional flags, Doxey and others noted the Pride flag has an 11-year tradition of flying at government facilities during the month of June.
The new Montana state law permits flags that have historical significance, honor law enforcement, educational institutions, and Tribal communities. It also allows for foreign flags to be flown, as Butte has done for visiting dignitaries. It does not permit flags that support political viewpoints representing sexual orientation or race.
Several people speaking in opposition express concern that the rainbow flag, which came to be nearly 50 years ago in the 1970s and represents the LGBTQ+ community, would usurp Butte's city flag that depicts an image of the Big M and a bow with arrows. Doxey says the Pride Flag is not meant to take the place of that flag or any others that might fly at the courthouse.
"After June, after Pride Month, it will revert to whatever flags are otherwise flown here," says Doxey.
Over 50 people spoke in favor of displaying the Pride Flag, while 10 people spoke against it, saying the rainbow flag is a political flag. Commissioner Michelle Shea disagreed with that argument.
"Sexual orientation and gender are not political ideologies. They are aspects of human identity protected under Constitutional and Civil Rights frameworks," said Shea during the meeting.
"I want to say very clearly that I am not a political statement, I am a human being, and all the people in this room and beyond whom I love are not a political statement. We’re people," says Jenny Ellis, a Butte resident.
As part of her reasoning for supporting the Pride Flag, Commissioner Shea went on to say that the new state law has a lot of loopholes.
"The state law is very poorly written. I can’t believe it made it all the way through, and they’re going to have to work a lot harder at the state if they want to single out people," says Shea.
The Council passed the communication to fly the rainbow flag by a vote of 11-1.
Butte Pride Foundation is hosting their annual Pride Festival with live music, food trucks, and a raffle on July 5th at the Original Mineyard from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
