A Washington city councilwoman just told her constituents she finds the American flag unrelatable.
Now a park full of flags is at the center of a national firestorm – and her own city is turning against her.
She said it on camera, in an official meeting, and she meant every word.
Lynnwood Councilwoman Isabel Mata Says the Pride Flag Is More Relatable Than the American Flag
Lynnwood, Washington City Council member Isabel Mata stood up and told the room she would never fly an American flag at her home.
"To me, a pride flag is way more relatable than an American flag," Mata said. "I would not raise an American flag at my house because I wouldn't. I wasn't even born here. But I would raise a pride flag."
The target of her remarks was Wilcox Park – known locally as "Flag Park" – which displays 27 flagpoles flying various versions of the American flag throughout its history.
Mata told the council the park's flags represent parts of American history that are, in her words, "frankly, not great."
She suggested swapping them out for commemorative flags in the name of inclusion.
Miranda Devine, Fox News contributor and New York Post columnist, was direct in response: "I wasn't even born here. Then shut up."
Popular conservative account Libs of TikTok posted the clip and it spread across X within hours.
Mata's government biography describes her as a "queer, neurodivergent writer, advocate, and mindfulness meditation teacher."
She ran for office in 2025 explicitly to push back against Trump, telling a local publication she knew "the s*** was going to hit the fan" and that Lynnwood needed her in office to "protect the most vulnerable communities."
Mata Backpedaled the Moment It Went National – Then Chuck Schumer Showed the Whole Party Agrees With Her
Once the backlash hit nationally, Mata walked it back.
She told Fox News Digital she was speaking "personally, as a queer woman, about what the pride flag means to me," and that the American flag "represents the sacrifices of veterans and military families."
She added that her original remarks "were not a formal policy proposal."
A neat rewrite.
She was at a public dais, on camera, telling the people she represents that their flag is less meaningful than a gender identity flag.
Then she got caught, and suddenly it was just a personal opinion.
Chuck Schumer ran the same playbook in February when he introduced legislation to make the gender identity flag a congressionally authorized symbol – equal in federal standing to the American flag, military flags, and other flags recognized by Congress.
He filed that bill after the Trump administration removed a pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument in New York City and called it "an effing disgrace."
Mata Pushed to Block ICE in Lynnwood Before Calling the American Flag Unrelatable
Mata is not some fringe figure.
She won her seat in November 2025 and immediately began pushing a resolution to limit Lynnwood police from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement – leaning on the Keep Washington Working Act and pushing measures designed to restrict local law enforcement's ability to assist federal agents.
Now she's on camera saying she prefers the gender identity flag over the American flag in a public park.
These elected officials believe exactly what they say.
They find the American flag – the symbol of every veteran who bled for it, every immigrant who came here legally and loves it, every family that flies it on the Fourth of July – less meaningful than a flag that represents one political coalition's identity agenda.
They get elected, they push open borders policies, they tie the hands of local law enforcement, and then they stand up at a council meeting and tell veterans their flag is, frankly, not great.
The voters of Lynnwood can decide in two years what they think about that.
Sources:
- Ashley J. DiMella, "Left-wing local leader torched after griping about American flags, pushing 'more relatable' replacement," Fox News, May 7, 2026.
- Madison Jones, "Isabel Mata runs to make changes to Lynnwood City Council," Seattle Gay News, 2025.
- "Isabel Mata (Lynnwood City Council Position 2, Washington, candidate 2025)," Ballotpedia, 2025.
- "'All are welcome,' Councilwoman pushes immigrant safety in Lynnwood," Lynnwood Times, March 3, 2026.
- "Schumer pushes bill to give Pride flag same status as US, military flags," Fox News, February 16, 2026.
