CHARACTERS
Dramatis Personae
Hal Shurtleff - Camp Constitution founder and director. John Birch Society activist. Christian Nationalist. Antagonist. White Male. Looks like a TV Evangelist who was caught in a sex scandal, minus the bolo tie. Bounces between Massachusetts and New Hampshire
Liberty Counsel - A litigious organization advocating for anti-LGBT discrimination under the guise of religious liberty. Supports the criminalization of homosexuality both in the U.S. and around the world. Was the primary counsel for disgraced former county clerk Kim Davis. In April 2017, Liberty Counsel began bullying a math teacher at a Florida high school because of their identity. When that was unsuccessful, they began a years-long campaign against the school district which was already facing budget shortfalls. Headquartered in Florida.
Camp Constitution - A summer camp for Christian nationalists in New Hampshire with a mission to “ to enhance the understanding of the country's Judeo-Christian moral heritage". They requested the City of Boston fly the Christian flag on Constitution Day.
Billerica Select Board - Chair, Mike Riley; Vice Chair, Kim Conway; Secretary, Andrew Deslaurier; John Burrows, Mike Rosa
Billerica Residents - Kelley Sardina, Christina O’Shea, Tina MacIntosh, and Cathy DeCourcey
Other - DeeDee Dorrington, former resident of Billerica and Chelmsford. Instigator. Anti-choice and christian nationalist activist
BACKGROUND
In 2017, Camp Constitution requested the City of Boston fly the Christian flag on the town owned flag pole. Based on decades of precedent, the City denied the request. Hal Shurtleff, with Liberty Counsel, sued the City of Boston and the case eventually wound its way to the US Supreme Court. The Supreme Court decided that the City of Boston has no authority to determine whose speech is allowed and must give exposure to all groups equally - even if they are hateful and don’t live in the area where the flag will be flown.
Chelmsford Selectmen voted in 2019 to no longer fly the Pride flag citing concerns about lawsuits. The Supreme Court had not yet decided to hear the Shurtleff case.
In May 2023, Billerica Resident Trek Reef appeared before the Select Board for at least the 10th time since 2008 to ask for a proclamation of Billerica’s support for the LGBTQ+ community and to fly the flag during the month of June. Flying the flag in Billerica has not been controversial until this year. Two of the five Select Board members suddenly questioned the necessity of promoting inclusiveness within Billerica. Member Burrows stated “we should only fly the American, Town and Military flags and not fly other groups because again, it could open us to hate groups.” Ultimately, Mike Rosa and John Burrows refused to sign the Pride Month Proclamation and the resolution condemning Anti-LGBTQ legislation and protecting Transgender Individuals and LGBTQ Youth. Members Mike Rosa and Member John Burrows denied knowledge of the more than 400 bills proposed in the United States targeting the gender/sexuality of individuals. Despite additional information, Members Burrow and Rosa abstained from voting on the resolution condemning governmental overreach into the lives of individuals.
In response to negative media attention, Mike Rosa determined to prevent all flags he opposes from flying again. A very disgruntled Mike Rosa approached Town Counsel about implementing a flag policy. Town Counsel probably reminded Rosa that flying a flag is free speech and unless he prohibited all flags, he couldn’t prevent those rainbow colors from flying in front of our beautiful library. The town counsel gave Rosa some examples of policies that would prevent the pride or trans flag from flying but the chair was not willing to take up the flag policy. They had “better” things to do. So what’s a bigot to do? Escalate!
Former Chelmsford and Billerica resident DeeDee Dorrington approached Member John Burrows and asked him to support her desire to see the pro-life flag flying from the Billerica flag pole. Despite her inability to see the flag from her residence, the potential to “own the libs” was too great for Burrows to pass. When the Lowell Sun heard there would be more “flag drama”, they called Select Board Chair Mike Riley for comment. Unfortunately, he stated that he and 2 other members would be unlikely to support such a flag flying in Billerica. He wasn’t wrong but the extremists latched onto that statement, accused him of open meeting law violations, and brought in Hal Shurtleff and Michael King from the Massachusetts Family Institute in Wakefield, MA to threaten the Select Board with legal action.
CHARACTERS
Threat of Lawsuit
On September 11th, during the Select Board Meeting, the following individuals requested to fly a pro-life flag. Select Board member John Burrows, DeeDee Dorrington (non resident), Kelley Sardina, Christina O’Shea, Tina MacIntosh, and Cathy DeCourcey. At the beginning of the meeting, during public comment, Hal Shurtleff reminded the Town that he dragged the City of Boston through the court system for five years and is watching Billerica closely. Shurtleff said, ““If you decide not to allow the Pro-Life Flag to fly, it may be a very costly vote. It cost the city of Boston over $2.1 million in legal fees and I’m sure that wouldn’t be a good thing for the town of Billerica”. Michael King from the Massachusetts Family Institute in Wakefield, MA also called in to the meeting to threaten the Select Board with legal action. MFI is a Christian nationalist organization behind ballot questions targeting the Trans community. A lot of pressure was put on the Select Board by outside agitators to fly their flag. DeeDee’s attorney sent a letter to the Board the morning with a strongly worded letter threatening potential legal action. Town Counsel feels like this is a warning shot to put us on notice. He advised the Board they would be subject to lawsuits from the presenting parties if the Select Board voted not to allow the flag. It’s important to note that they Select Board did not endorse their views or agree with the vote they took. In a sense, the Select Board was held hostage by Christian Nationalists. As final words, Dorrington declared with a wistful tone, “the whole town will unite and gather under the flag for two weeks and decide what it means to them”.
We are indeed going to unite the town and decide what the flag means. The flag was created by a group who vows to “create an America so full of the pro-life flag that every day, millions of people will be reminded of the reality of abortion and of the determined pro-life movement that fights to abolish it.” Billerica is certainly not a town that wants to put government between a patient and their physician or a town that wants to have abortion abolished. That’s why DeeDee keeps pulling her resolutions and experiencing the “chaos and dissension” as a result. It’s a natural consequence. DeeDee is trying to impose her beliefs on us and doesn’t like when we rise up to shut her down.
People like her are working across the US to spread their message at the local, state, and federal levels. See Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska.
Response
On October 16, 2023, many activists, elected officials, and concerned residents staged a pro-choice, silent, non-confrontational standout directly across the street from the flag raising.
From October 31st to each night at 5 p.m., we gathered under the flag for an hour—regardless of the weather. We wanted to spread awareness and engage more people in the meaning of the flag.
