Despite 9 Pride flag thefts, Everett couple remains undaunted

EVERETT — You can take away his Pride flag but you can’t take away his pride.

What’s up with that?

Doug Blay sent me an email last week that nine Pride flags were stolen from in front of his house in the past two years.

That morning, the latest Pride flag had been taken overnight. He usually tells the police. This time he decided to also tell a reporter.

I met him at his Mukilteo Boulevard home on a busy stretch near Harborview Park, about 2 miles from where another Pride flag recently went missing at the city’s Forest Park.

Rainbow flags can be seen at businesses and government agencies during Pride Month in June. Pride Day is celebrated June 28.

Blay’s Pride flag stays up year-round, nine thefts and all.

“I’ll keep flying it as long as they are taking it,” Blay said. “I ordered four more flags today.”

Blay wasn’t angry. He was smiling.

Blay, 64, wore a Funko hoodie and invited me into the home he shares with Tim Pfahl, his husband of 25 years. In the great room was a highchair and toys for their three grandkids. The house with sweeping views of the Sound sits on a hill, about 300 feet above the flat yard where the roadside flags are flown.

The flags he buys are $7 on Amazon. The latest flag stolen was an expensive exception, about $25, with fancy stitching. It was installed recently on a 30-foot flagpole.

“I didn’t think it would get stolen once I put it on a pole and up high,” he said.

The previous eight Pride flags hung from guy wires near the road. One after another, the flags disappeared at random through the year, cut from the ties that attached it to the guy wires during the night.

There has been a spate of Pride flag thefts around Washington and the nation. In some states, it is regarded as a hate crime against the LGBTQ+ community. Flags have been slashed, ripped and burned in front of public buildings. In Pennsylvania, a candy shop has had its Pride flag stolen repeatedly.

In Mountlake Terrace, a Pride banner on a fence was defaced over the weekend.

City of Everett spokesperson Simone Tarver said the Pride flag at Forest Park vanished within 24 hours of putting it up. Pride flags at Sullivan Park were also stolen.

“We won’t be replacing the flags this year,” Tarver said in an email. “We do intend to try again next year, but we will need to figure out a way to ensure they’re more secure. Our goal is to have Pride flags in multiple locations across the city during June. And as a side note, it sounds like flags were stolen last year as well.”

The Everett Police Department is investigating.

“We are conducting a full investigation into the Pride flag thefts, to include the use of technology in the area to help identify a suspect,” police spokesperson Ora Hamel said in an email. “We have yet to identify the person or persons responsible for the thefts, but continue to investigate this as a serious matter.”

Is it considered a hate crime?

“Part of our investigation will include consultation with the prosecutor’s office to determine if the theft constitutes a hate crime per Washington state law,” Hamel said.

I suggested to Blay that his Pride flag thefts might seem too serious for the often irreverent format of the “What’s Up With That?” column.

He just kept smiling and said quite the contrary.

The column is about things people driving around wonder about, he reminded me.

True.

“It would be a good way to bring visibility and attention to make it quit disappearing and garner some community support,” Blay said. “I’m not looking for revenge. I’d rather promote understanding and for people to be accepting. I hope people will be nice to each other.”

For 32 years, Blay worked for Brooks Brothers in men’s custom suits and traveled to stores nationwide and beyond. Now he works remotely as an administrative assistant with the state’s Department of Children, Youth and Families.

“I have tons of suits,” he said. “I am perfectly happy in a sweatshirt. I dressed to the nines for years.”

The flagpole was a Christmas gift for Blay. He wanted the flag to look good.

“I wanted something more professional looking and more proper and I wanted the American flag up there with it,” he said. “I wanted to put the two together. No group owns patriotism. It all goes hand-in-hand.”

Wait, he got the pole in December and it just went up in May?

He said it took his husband that long to get around to installing it. I can relate to that.

“I got a solar light on it so I can keep my American flag up all night,” he said.

The pole is set back about 20 feet from the road, unlike the guy wires that were attached to the telephole pole at the end of the driveway. He figured that his flag theft days were over, so he invested in a fancy flag.

Not so.

A week later, the Pride flag vanished.

“It was there when I was mowing the lawn and gone in the morning,” he said. “They just stole the Pride flag. Not the American flag.”

A new Pride flag took its place.

“I’m not going to let this stop me,” he said.

The couple’s son and his wife fly a Pride flag year-round at their Monroe home.

“They got the cutest note last year from a kid thanking them for keeping it up all year. This kid’s dad wouldn’t let him put one up, not even during Pride month. It was the most poignant letter,” Blay said.

“That’s why I keep it up. It’s a good sign for affirmation for young people or anyone who is struggling to show support so they know there is somebody like them.”

He inspired me to display a Pride flag at my house. It’s a small stick flag, jutting from a flowerpot.

I bought two, just in case.

Is there a person, place or thing making you wonder “What’s Up With That?” Contact reporter Andrea Brown: 425-339-3443; abrown@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterbrown.