Members of the Barrington Town Council voted 5-0 to support flying the Autism Awareness flag from the town hall hall flag pole during the month of April, although two councilors initially were reluctant to do so.

During Monday night’s meeting, Jacob Brier and Rob Humm said that while they supported the Autism Awareness cause they did not support the idea of flying that flag at the town hall.

Mr. Humm was first to object. He said that he agreed with the message shared in the resolution to support flying the flag, but said flying a flag in support of a cause should be the exception, not the rule. (The town has already passed a resolution to fly the Pride flag each June and also supported flying the Black Lives Matter flag at the town hall for six months.)

Mr. Humm said the flagpole was not the place to show support for Autism Awareness.

Mr. Brier, who helped create the resolution to fly the Pride flag each June, said he would be happy to promote Autism Awareness in town. But he said that flying a flag was not the only way to make a statement of support.

Council president Michael Carroll said he supported flying the Autism Awareness flag for April, except on April 24, when the town would fly a flag marking the remembrance of the Armenian Genocide.

Council members Annelise Conway and Carl Kustell shared their full support for flying the Autism Awareness flag for the month of April; the two councilors worked with Barrington residents Karen Rasnick and Jack Siegel who filed the application to fly the Autism Awareness flag.

Ms. Conway made the motion to pass the resolution allowing the flag to fly, and Mr. Kustell seconded the motion.

Mr. Brier, however, called for an amendment to the resolution, eliminating the Autism Awareness flag and instead offering to illuminate the town hall in blue lights for the month of April.

Mr. Kustell sharply criticized Mr. Brier’s effort to alter the resolution. Mr. Kustell then rejected the amendment, adding that illuminating the town hall should be a separate action from flying the flag.

Mr. Humm said he liked Mr. Brier’s idea. He said the blue lights would gain better attention than a flag flying outside the town hall.

Mr. Siegel spoke on the matter — he first wanted to recognize the effort made by Mr. Kustell. He then explained why he wanted the flag to fly, stating that those people impacted by autism want to be treated the same as any other group of disenfranchised people whose flags have already flown at the town hall.

If there were no flags of support flying at the town hall, he would be fine with that, he said. But if the council was going to support one cause then the Autism Awareness flag was deserving of their support also.

Ms. Rasnick also spoke on the topic, stating that there were many people in town who supported the idea of flying the Autism Awareness flag at the town hall.

Mr. Brier said his motion to change the way the town shows support for the cause should not serve to undermine Autism Awareness.

“Different does not mean unequal,” he said.

Barrington residents voiced their criticism of the council members for supporting one flag, but not another.

Tom Rimoshytus said it seemed that Mr. Brier did not want to raise a flag unless it was one that he came up with. He said the council either needed to support the flags altogether or not support them — they can’t stand in the middle, picking and choosing which cause was worthy.

Lisa Daft said she was shocked that the conversation over the Autism Awareness flag had lasted as long as it did. She said she was against flying any other flags on the town hall flag pole and that the council was being very “wishy-washy” about which flags to support. Ms. Daft said the council should expect to receive more flag-flying applications in the future.

David Scarpino wanted to speak on the issue, but Mr. Carroll would not allow his comments because Mr. Scarpino is not a Barrington resident.

Mr. Carroll also said that he was not happy about being criticized on the topic. He said councilors could support an issue and not raise a flag for it.

Mr. Kustell took a moment to explain what the Autism Awareness flag stands for and why it deserves the council’s support. He said that while he supports healthcare for all people, he would not put up a flag for it. This was an important cause, he added.

Mr. Brier spoke again, saying that the flag issue could not be boiled down to supporting a group or not supporting a group. He appeared to lose his train of thought when he heard another person comment “Oh my God” as he started to speak again.

Mr. Humm then appeared to flip-flop on the issue, stating that he entered the discussion feeling one way about the flag, but thought Mr. Kustell gave an excellent presentation and was now thinking differently about the Autism Awareness flag.

Council members then voted on the resolution, all five supporting the Autism Awareness flag — it will fly on the town hall flagpole from April 1 to 30, with the exception of April 24 when a flag marking the Armenian Genocide will fly.