The report below appeared in October 2023. Sending a councillor to re-education for deviating from the council’s woke regime marked it as one of the wokest councils in Australia. They have not improved much. See my following comment for an update on this appalling band of councillors.
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Victorian councillor Susan Bissinger forced to undergo ‘personal development training’ following dispute over Pride flag
Victorian Councillor Susan Bissinger has claimed she was forced to complete a “personal development course” after expressing opposition to a permanent Pride flag at the council offices.
Reilly SullivanDigital, Sky News, October 25, 2023 – 10:00
A councillor from Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula has claimed she was forced to undertake a personal development course after expressing opposition to a permanent Pride flag outside the council offices.
Councillor Susan Bissinger was recently ordered to complete the training after mediation with shire mayor Steve Holland in September.
The mediation followed an online exchange between Ms Bissinger, councillors and council staff regarding a plan to permanently fly the “Intersex Inclusive Progress Pride Flag” at all council offices in the affluent coastal shire.
The updated rainbow flag was unveiled in 2021 to represent the full LGBTQI+ community, including transgender and intersex people.
Councillor Susan Bissinger claimed she had to undergo development training after expressing opposition to a Pride flag. Picture: Sky News Australia.
On Wednesday evening, Ms Bissinger told Sky News that the dispute “wasn’t about the intersex (sic) flag itself” but the decision to fly a “divisive” flag in a predominantly “conservative” community.
“We’d just come off a situation where we had consecutive really bad reports from our community about how we were tracking as a council and so the council employed a whole team to come in and see how we could improve our image,” she told Andrew Bolt.
Ms Bissinger said that she was initially “optimistic” about the image overhaul but was surprised to discover the suggestions included a permanent Pride flag outside all council offices.
“The fact is it’s a flag that wasn’t necessary and it was divisive. We were trying to improve our image and get back to the basics and this just seemed like such a distraction for people,” she said.
“I sent an email out and said ‘is this really necessary?’