Florida couple are FINED for flying a small Pride flag in their front yard after ‘offended’ neighbor reported it to local homeowners association
- Bob Plominski and Mike Ferrari placed a Pride flag on their mailbox on June 1
- Less than a week later, their local homeowners association sent a citation ordering the couple to remove the flag by June 15 or face a fine of $50 per day
- The homeowners association say they are simply following rules and are not being discriminatory
- Plominski and Ferrari are reportedly set to appeal their fines at a grievance committee meeting next month
A gay couple in Florida have been fined for flying a small Pride flag in the front yard of their suburban home.
Bob Plominski and Mike Ferrari decided to hang the flag from the mailbox of their Oakland Park property on June 1 in honor of Pride month, which celebrates the increased visibility of the LGBTQ communities.
However, on June 5, the couple received a citation from the The Eastland Cove Homeowners Association, ordering them to remove the flag by June 15 or face a fine of $50 per day.
Plominski says he was ‘shocked’ and ‘upset’ when he received the violation from the HOA. The small flag is the same size as a sheet of A4 paper.
A gay couple in Florida have been fined for flying a small Pride flag in the front yard of their suburban home
‘We’ve done this before and it’s a simple showing of our pride to the community and it’s up for 30 days,’ Plominski told NBC 6.
He claims he and Ferrari have previously flown the flag and have never had any issues.
‘I really think the citation is because it’s a gay pride flag and someone in the neighborhood is offended, simple as that,’ Ferrari told the news network.
The HOA admitted to NBC6 that a complaint had come in, but say the order to remove the colorful cloth is not discriminatory.
A member of the HOA board stated that, as per the rules, only American flags or military flags are allowed to be flown out front of local houses.
Bob Plominski and Mike Ferrari decided to hang the flag from the mailbox of their Oakland Park property on June 1 in honor of Pride month, which celebrates the increased visibility of the LGBTQ communities
However, the defiant couple are refusing to take down the flag despite the fact they have started racking up the hefty daily fine.
The pair plan to appear before a grievance committee to make an appeal, which will likely be heard in July.
‘It’s going to stay up until June 30th,’ Plominski stated.
‘We as a community worked really hard to earn and get to where we are today. We’re not going to back down on this one.’
Meanwhile, a Wisconsin couple were also recently ordered to take down their Pride flag by a local homeowners association
Meanwhile, a Wisconsin couple were also recently ordered to take down their Pride flag by a local homeowners association.
Memo Fachino, 35, and Lance Mier, 36 had been flying the same rainbow flag outside their home since 2016, before the Homeowners’ Association voted on a new rule to ban all flags in the neighborhood.
The proud pair responded by setting up rainbow-colored floodlights across the entire front of their house.
The proud pair responded by setting up rainbow-colored floodlights across the entire front of their house