Comments on: Couple in Dispute With Group Over Gay Pride Flag

By: PDQ

PDQ — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:07:46 +0000

As a gay man and former HOA board President I’d suggest that perhaps Steven and Zeneff should sell their condo and buy a single family home in a neighborhood that’s not governed by a homeowners association. They can paint their house whatever color they like, plant anything in the yard they’d like to, put rainbow flags in their windows, park their car in the driveway if they want to, etc.

Likewise, their neighbors can let their grass die, they can park decrepit hulks of cars in their driveways (or put them on cinder blocks), they can put a Confederate (or KKK) flag in their windows and they can paint their houses in camouflage colors.

People live in communities managed by HOA’s because they LIKE the uniformity. The uniformity is what insures that the complex/neighborhood maintains its resale value. If Steven and Zeneff no longer want that uniformity, sell and move somewhere more to your liking.

By: Margaret

Margaret — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:09:34 +0000

Home Owners Associations are not always there in the beginning. When I got out of the service, I moved back to the home I grew up in and immediately began having problems with the recently created Home Owners Association because my car was parked in a way they didn’t like. I attended the next HOA meeting and finally got recognized. I stood up, held up my birth certificate and said, “How many people in this room have a birth certficate that says ______, Texas?” (The town in question is near but not in Houston) Only one other person in that room raised his hand and nobody on the HOA board did. The point is that not all homeowners agree to the onerous rules the associations try to enforce, they are often used to carry out grudges and they always devolve into power for power’s sake. The should be illegal in this country.

By: DanO

DanO — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:33:17 +0000

This is clearly a case of discrimination and has already been settled in case law. An HOA cannot decide which decorations are acceptable and which are not. The Easter example (a religious holiday) is particularly telling. It’s an all or nothing situation. They cannot pick and choose.

By: Ballston

Ballston — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:13:51 +0000

And this is why I’d NEVER purchase a home in a condo, cooperative, or neighborhood with a legally recognized HOA.

By: Jeffrey

Jeffrey — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 06:03:12 +0000

Plant a flower garden, but in rainbow sequence colors.

By: Charlene

Charlene — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:54:58 +0000

This is why overly restrictive HOAs should be outright illegal. There should be a basic right to paint or decorate your house whichever way you want without exception or discussion.

By: BCSM

BCSM — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:55:23 +0000

Steven and Zeneff should find a way to display the flag in a big window from the inside of their house. Most HOAs do not control what is displayed inside, only what is on the outside facade.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:31:26 +0000

They should sue this supposed board for discrimination.

By: Carl

Carl — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:17:47 +0000

I live in a neighborhood with an HOA. When I bought into that neighborhood, I was required to sign HOA papers. In the HOA contract are guidelines regarding how my yard is to be maintained, how my house is to be painted, where my cars are to be parked, what types of fencing I can use, and how (and which) flags I can and cannot display. I bought the home knowing the guidelines. Signing the paper was the acknowledgement that I agreed to those terms.

In my neighborhood, a homeowner was required to remove the American Flag. He yelled and screamed that the HOA was “anti-American” and “anti-Military”. He held candle-light vigils in his front yard. He held anti-HOA signs at the street entrance of our neighborhood. The bottom line: the flag was mounted on a huge (and illegal) pole, and the flag itself was the width of his house. The flag was in violation of HOA papers that he himself signed when he bought the house. The pole and flag were eventually removed.

My point is this. I’ve seen the picture of Steven and Zeneff’s flag mounted above their garage. Quite frankly, as a due-paying gay neighbor, I’d want the flag removed. It’s tacky — and it clearly doesn’t meet the HOA guidelines. Until the rules are changed (thru HOA changeover or by Steve and Zeneff becoming board-members or thru the board process) then the flag should be removed, as should ANY other flag that doesn’t meet HOA guidelines.

Steven and Zeneff knew what the rules were when they bought into the neighborhood. Now they have to play by those rules — the same rules their neighbors have to abide by. The same rules that keep their neighborhood a desired location. If homophobia exists here (which is certainly a possibility) it still doesn’t change the rules.