I’ve written several times about how I supported Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election. Goldwater was so conservative at the time that many Republicans fled the party and voted for LBJ giving him a huge win.

It goes without saying that I don’t support many of the positions that Goldwater took in 1964, but I never lost my admiration for Barry Goldwater the man because he continued to think for himself and didn’t blindly accept the party line.

So when the Republican Party was moving toward its strict anti-abortion position, Goldwater warned them against it:

A woman has a right to an abortion. That’s a decision that’s up to the pregnant woman, not up to the pope or some do-gooders or the Religious Right.

And he foresaw the problems that religion would create for the party:

Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they’re sure trying to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can’t and won’t compromise. I know, I’ve tried to deal with them.

I was reminded of Barry when I saw some recent news articles about Republican-dominated legislatures, inspired mostly by the hate-filled Catholic, Mormon, evangelical, and other Christians and conservative Jews, forbidding the flying of Pride flags. Moslems are just as hate-filled as Christians, but Republicans don’t take their marching orders from them. In any case, some cities with Democratic majorities have found creative ways to push back.

Salt Lake City approves 3 new flags to get around Utah’s ban on Pride flags

Salt Lake City adopted three new city flags Tuesday, an effort to circumvent a new Utah law that effectively banned flying LGBTQ Pride and other flags at public buildings in the state.

Mayor Erin Mendenhall, a Democrat, presented the proposal to the City Council, which adopted it at its meeting Tuesday night. It incorporates the city’s flag into designs celebrating Juneteenth, LGBTQ rights and trans rights.

Boise adds two official flags in latest jab at Legislature’s new law

The Boise City Council made the Pride flag a city flag Tuesday to get around a new state law.

The Legislature earlier this year banned most flags from flying on government property, but left an exception for “the official flag of a governmental entity.”

Cheers, boos and expletives erupted from the crowd during the rowdy meeting. Five of Boise’s council members voted yes on the resolution — saying that everyone was welcome and safe in Boise. Luci Willits, the lone no vote, said she felt the city had to uphold the law and that constituents didn’t want the change.

Barry long ago pointed out that:

I am a conservative Republican, but I believe in democracy and the separation of church and state. The conservative movement is founded on the simple tenet that people have the right to live life as they please as long as they don’t hurt anyone else in the process.

And:

The big thing is to make this country quit discriminating against people just because they’re gay. You don’t have to agree with it, but they have a constitutional right to be gay. They’re American citizens.

There’s a reason that Barry Goldwater lost influence with his party towards the end of his life and that Bill and Hillary Clinton invited him to the White House (Hillary had also been a supporter of his 1964 campaign).