An anti-President Biden flag with an obscenity on it is flying from the top of a house in Leechburg and is visible from a nearby preschool, church and daycare.
Mayor Wayne Dobos said he has fielded several complaints from residents, including a grandmother who reported that her young grandchild, just learning how to read, read the flag’s message.
Dobos said there is nothing the borough can do to make the homeowner, Matthew Shaner, take it down.
Shaner doesn’t appear to have plans to do so any time soon.
“It’s my First Amendment right, and I feel like our rights are being taken away,” Shaner, 41, told a Tribune-Review reporter. “In today’s society, the word is used so frequently and kids listen to it in songs and it’s on social media.”
The flag attached to the top of Shaner’s Third Street home is visible from Holy Innocents Daycare and Preschool, less than a block away. Representatives from Holy Innocents declined to comment.
Dobos said the issue came up at a council meeting last month and the borough solicitor said legally the flag is allowed.
Dobos said he visited the Shaner residence to inform them of the complaints and spoke with Shaner’s spouse, who declined to be interviewed for this story.
“Some people said they don’t think it’s proper with these young children seeing it,” Dobos said. “This is a First Amendment thing whether I like it or not. It’s that man’s right to have it up there and it’s everyone’s right to be offended.”
Shaner said he made a deliberate choice when deciding where to hang the flag on his home.
“I chose a high location, so everyone will see it,” said Shaner, who voted for Donald Trump in November.
Shaner said he’s fielded only positive comments about the flag.
“I plan to leave it up until that one wears out and I get a new one,” Shaner said.
Leechburg resident Linda Christensen, 76, said she has altered her driving routes around town to avoid having to go past the house, because she finds the obscenity offensive.
“The flag makes a political statement, but to me the flag is not a political issue. I recognize the person has a right to feel politically however they want and to express that in a responsible manner,” Christiansen said. “It’s an issue about responsibility, pride, integrity and respect as a reflection of our community.”
Christensen said she visited the borough office Thursday to file a complaint but the office was closed.
She said plans to return when the office is open to lodge a complaint.
“I think it’s insulting and it makes me very sad to think that flag represents this community we live in,” Christensen said. “I would respectfully ask that that man take that flag down.”
Leechburg resident Melissa Rak also said she disapproves of the flag’s message.
“Politics and freedom of speech aside, this is across the street from a preschool, day care and church,” Rak said. “Just because you have the freedom and legal right to do something does not make it socially acceptable to do so. There are more respectful ways to make a point. I feel this is disrespectful to our entire community.”
