Winston-Salem removes LBGTQ-Pride city logo from Facebook page, sparking backlash

The city of Winston-Salem removed an LGBTQ-Pride-themed city logo from its Facebook profile page shortly after posting it Thursday morning, prompting backlash on social media. 

The image depicting the city’s logo set against a rainbow flag backdrop was posted as its main picture shortly before 10 a.m. The profile image reverted to the city's standard logo about an hour later, prompting comments questioning whether officials buckled to negative feedback about the change.  

In a statement to WFDD, city spokesperson Frank Elliott said that wasn’t the case.

 "The diversity background to the city logo, which was briefly displayed on the city’s Facebook page, was posted prematurely and removed," said Elliott. "In addition to being Pride Month, June is also recognized as PTSD Awareness Month, National Gun Violence Awareness Month and Alzheimer’s & Brain Awareness Month, among others. The city is dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion, however, as a matter of fairness we cannot promote one cause over the others through our logo.”

The logo is viewable in an archived photo album on its Facebook page.