The annual Quincy Pride event will take place in-person on June 6 at noon.
states have started to lift stay-at-home orders and other restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus as vaccinations increase and cases decrease.
This year's LGBTQ+ Pride Month will be celebrated differently due to the coronavirus pandemic, but after the virus canceled nearly every in-person event in 2020, many are back this year.
Milk was assassinated later that year.Īccording to Baker's website, the colors of the LGBT flag each have a meaning: red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, blue for harmony and violet for spirit.īaker died at the age of 65 on March 31, 2017, though his rainbow flag remains an iconic, powerful symbol for LGBT pride. Army veteran, created the flag in 1978 as a new symbol for the gay and lesbian political movement at the suggestion of his friends and colleagues, including Harvey Milk, a San Francisco city supervisor and the first openly gay elected official in California. Gilbert Baker, an American artist, gay rights activist and U.S. The rainbow LGBTQ+ flag is prominently displayed throughout the month. Memorials are also often held for members of the LGBTQ+ community who have lost their lives to hate crimes or HIV/AIDS. Typically, there are monthlong celebrations and in-person gatherings that take place across the nation, including pride parades, marches, parties, concerts, workshops and symposiums. “I support BLM in all of their anti-oppression initiatives that they speak about in the eight demands,” Hendricks said, but, he added, “On this matter, it really boils down to that inclusion cannot and should not be born out of exclusion and divisive tactics.LGBTQ+ Pride Month events draw millions of participants from around the world each year. The controversy began at last year’s Pride parade after Black Lives Matter (BLM) called upon Pride to answer for its “anti-blackness” and demanded Pride organizers sign a list of demands, which included removing police floats from future parades.īryn Hendricks, a community activist who helped organize an online petition with 10,000 signatures asking for police to be allowed to march in uniform in the Pride parade, said he’s “saddened” that a police organization in another country had to extend an invitation to the TPS because they’re not welcome here. “Even though we’re 35 years old, we’ve only been able to march in uniform since 1997, so that’s why it was important for us to reach out and try to invite them down here.”Įarlier this month, Pride Toronto’s organizing committee said in a statement that “LGBTQ+ police officers and their allies can march in the Parade with community groups, with the City of Toronto, or even create their own group,” but, it added, it requests that officers not include uniforms, weapons or vehicles in their parade participation. “We actually had to sue in the United States federal court in 1997 for the right to march in the NYPD uniforms in New York City Pride,” he said. Shepard said they’d been monitoring the situation in Toronto since last year’s Pride parade.īeing able to march in uniform is important to the NYPD, he said, because until 1997, officers were unable to do so. William Shepard, the executive director of GOAL, sent a letter to Toronto police on May 19, requesting permission for officers to march in uniform along with members of the NYPD and the NYPD marching band and colour guard. “I think it’s sad Toronto couldn’t be that progressive and that inclusive.” “I think, isn’t it a mature way to look at things when you’re talking about an inclusive parade, when you’re talking about an inclusive event,” said McCormack. Mike McCormack, the Toronto Police Association president, lauded the invitation to the New York Pride parade, which is on the same day as Toronto’s, June 25. The invitation came from the Gay Officers Action League (GOAL) of New York, a civil rights organization dedicated to addressing the concerns of gay and lesbian law enforcement personnel. Though the Toronto Police Service is barred from marching in uniform at this year’s Pride parade, they may be marching alongside NYPD officers at the New York parade next month.