HOA tells homeowner to take down PRIDE lights

If they're going to hang their hats on the color argument, then they'll have to ban all colored light displays for Christmas, Diwali, etc. I can't see that going anywhere...

If you have to hang out lights to let everyone know your Christian, then maybe your not doing Christian right?

Our association defines the "holiday" periods during which lights and other celebratory objects may be placed on the owner's property.

Is there a PRIDE celebration week or something similar? I don't know but that may be a solution.

Other than landscape lighting, which may not be colored, and 'uplights on the vertical surfaces of the structure which also may not be colored, and tightly defined lighting on the flag of the United States, no temporary lighting may be placed on the home outside the "holiday" periods.

Short term, temporary, exceptions are made for social events at the home, typically those are for one day/night. Game day flags, and educational institution flags of a defined size are allowed.

So, what to do about the PRIDE lights. My advice is to revise the Rules regarding acceptable lighting, placing of objects, and during what periods the lighting and objects may be displayed to acknowledge the desire to celebrate the personal choice.

Otherwise, any affiliation which can be imagined will wish to place lights and other objects on the property, 24x7x365.

As an aside, as a veteran of the Air Force years ago, PRIDE to me is Personal Responsibility in Daily Effort, a program which was initiated to drive home the message every officer and airman had the personal responsibility to execute his or her daily tasks at the highest level of quality.

One of my kids - the microbiologist - is trans (and I love them a lot), so arguably I’m biased. Although there are so many twisty little aspects to this that it just makes my brain hurt and I want to stop thinking about it altogether.

That said: I find myself siding with the HOA. Despite all of the implications in the article, I’m not really seeing their complaint as an attack on gays. Maybe it is, but they’re keeping it really, really quiet. While I am personally extremely fond of all of the fun new LED lighting toys out there - y’all wouldn’t believe what my workstation looks like - a lot of people look to their HOA to promote consistency in appearance.

Re holiday lighting, Christian traditions, and so on: yeah, those things are real - and typically they’re covered in the CCRs. I think if you’re Indian and want to celebrate Diwali with a lighting display, or if you’re gay and you want to celebrate Gay Day{1} with a lighting display, then you can work to get supportive language into your governing documents.

Pragmatically, it seems like the case in the article has turned into 15 Minutes Of Fame for the homeowner, with politicians calling{2}, talk of a lawsuit, etc. I can only hope that it all goes towards some significant and justified social change. Alas, I’m cynical about that{3}.

Two observations:

1. The house in the picture looks extremely well-kept. I wouldn’t want to try arguing that the lighting is ‘tasteless’.

2. There’s talk of another house in the neighborhood that has all red lights - I guess to celebrate International Sex Workers’ Day? - and it’s not been cited by the HOA. I suspect the HOA will come to regret this. Joking aside, it probably looks nice and isn’t trying to make any kind of statement, so nobody ever thought “something needs to be done”. The rainbow theme is a little more In Yer Face. I know at least one homophobe who has serious issues with the gay “appropriation” of the rainbow *eyeroll*

BillD

{1} I have no idea if such a thing exists. Not that my opinion on this matters at all, but I’d be good with a “standard” where each occasion gets a 30-day block of time in which to be celebrated.

{2} “He stopped talking to take a call from state Sen. Melissa Wintrow …” Really? He just happens to get a call from a senator while a newspaper reporter is interviewing him? What a coincidence.

{3} ref Black Lives Matter. No, not the concept that Black Lives Matter - I mean the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation Inc, which has caught criticism for some rather sketchy financial behavior.

Agreed, if an HOA wants to enforce something, it needs actually have that rule written down ahead of time (and first have the authority to regulate that thing in the first place).

I think it would be totally normal and acceptable for an HOA to clearly define time windows for holiday lights, define allowed holidays to light up, etc. as well as defining ACC rules for landscape lighting.

The problem here is that none of that happened....the HOA got grumpy and just fired off violations, with vague citations.

https://quail-ridge.com/cc-rs-bylaws-acc

all the documents are there. That's kind of the point of the article and the story: The HOA is citing him for failing to submit an ACC request ... for temporary lights ... and also claiming the lights are noxious and offensive, and that none of these claims are substantiated by the HOA's documents.

So it's not because they are "Gay Pride" lights but because they did not apply to display them with the ACC. We don't know if the ACC would have approved them or not do we? We just know they did not because not asked approval. Again the "Ask for forgiveness not permission" issue in every HOA.

BTW: I'd put a cross out to celebrate my "Christianity" but here in the South a cross in the front yard means something different... We have gay pride parades and protests all the time here. No one is really putting lights out on their houses over it. It's NOT a holiday.

Feds have declared June as Gay Pride month, and California, this year followed suit. Individual cities have held their own brand at different parts of the year.