DUVALL, Wash. — Update: After KING 5's story aired, a spokesperson for the city, Josh Green, reached out to KING 5 to say the city never approved the artwork despite Burton thinking that was the case. Because the City of Duvall has not adopted policies for installations, the city considered the artwork as an "unregulated use." The upcoming August 15 meeting will focus on how the city plans to regulate signage and installations on public right-of-ways like the fence where the art installation was located.
For more than a year, a Pride Flag Ribbon Art Installation greeted people coming and going from Duvall.
Axton Burton, a queer artist living in Redmond, jumped at the chance to create the artwork for their hometown. A picture of how that art looked is below.
"The owner of Duvall Valley Mail commissioned me to create an art installation in 2022," Burton said. "I've created a couple rainbow ribbon art installations in Redmond. Carol, the owner, saw the creations online and wanted to commission me for it."
Initially, Burton said there was not a lot of community support in terms of helping them cover the costs and the time needed to create the work. However, when a group of teenagers pulled off some of the ribbons, Burton's call to action on social media brought money and volunteers to the project.
The artwork remained intact until July 21 when city leaders removed all signs, banners, flags and decorations from public right-of-ways. This was done, according to a Facebook post by the city, for "public safety, legal, and equity reasons."
Community members tell KING 5, someone pinned a flag associated with the White Christian Nationalist movement next to the pride artwork. A picture of the flag is below. This flag was pinned to the fence days before the city decided to take down all materials on public right-of-ways.
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In the comment section of the city's post, many people were angry, believing the city had caved to pressure from an extremist group trying to cause trouble, hoping to get the Pride Flag installation removed.
While not pleased, Burton, who's had a little more than a week to have conversations with the city, understands the reasoning behind removing their work of art.
“The city took it down because there’s no legal terminology that differentiates between freedom of speech and hate speech," Burton said. “I have been very grateful that the only person I’ve been in communication with has been the mayoral aide, Cynthia, who has been extraordinarily empathetic and communicative. The only reason I’m not spitting fire is because of her communication style.”
The City of Duvall is inviting the community to a meeting on Aug. 15 at 7 p.m., encouraging people to voice their opinions to help city leaders "determine what material should be allowed in the City right-of-way and how material should be appropriately permitted to be displayed on City-owned fences."
In the months leading up to and throughout Pride Month, KING 5 reported extensively on Pride Flags being stolen or pushback on Pride events. Most of the cases happened in smaller communities. This follows a national trend being played out in rural communities across the country.
In May, the Department of Homeland Security issued a terrorism advisory bulletin including people and events associated with the LGBTQIA+ community as likely targets of potential violence from domestic terrorists.