LGBT rally calls for resignation of several Long Beach officials over Pride flag

LONG BEACH, Long Island (WABC) -- Controversy is growing on Long Island over the removal of an LGBT flag displayed at a boardwalk.

LGBT Network President and CEO David Kilmnick held a rally on Sunday, calling for the resignations of Long Beach Police Commissioner Ronald Walsh and City Council President John Bendo, after he says they demanded that a rainbow flag be taken down from outside Riptides, a popular Long Beach boardwalk restaurant.

"Hate has no place here on Long Island," Kilmnick said. "There must be accountability for Commissioner Walsh and for City Council President Bendo whose tacit endorsement clearly indicates that his time is up as well."

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"We don't have access to things other people do is discrimination in my eyes. I think everyone has the right to believe what they want to believe to an extent... I don't think you get to be homophobic because your religion tells you to be homophobic."

The LGBT Network announced last year that it was moving Long Island Pride events out of Long Beach because of the alleged discrimination from city leadership.

"We left Long Beach because of the discrimination we faced from the current administration, and this is yet another example of the ugly hatred that John Bendo and his administration continue to hang on the good people and families of Long Beach," Kilmnick said. "The homophobia must end immediately, and so must the reign of those who continue to act in such a manner."

Long Beach Police and the City Council president have yet to comment on the situation.

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