MEMBERS of Causeway Coast and Glens borough council have rejected a request to fly the rainbow flag during this year's Foyle Pride festival.
A Sinn Féin motion had proposed the flag be flown from the council headquarters when the festival takes place in August.
But the motion was defeated by 17 votes to 15 during a council meeting on Tuesday.
Sinn Féin, the SDLP and Alliance backed the motion, but it was rejected by the DUP and PUP.
The UUP, which allows its representatives to vote with their conscience, was split.
It comes after a similar motion was blocked last August, while the proposal also led to a walkout by DUP councillors in June last year, which meant there were not enough councillors for the vote to be held.
Sinn Féin's Cara McShane said the motion defeat "sent out a very clear message once again that Causeway Coast and Glens is a cold house for the LGBT community."
"It effectively slammed the door on equality and inclusion. That is unfortunate, it is an issue we all could get around, in the larger scheme of things it was just a small gesture," she told the BBC.
But PUP councillor Russell Watton said he believed passing the motion would have been "opening a can of worms".
