The rainbow pride flag is now flying high in front of city hall as Saint John, N.B. celebrates Pride Week—in a year where the LGBTQ community as a whole has witnessed both victory and devastating loss.
This year Justin Trudeau became Canada’s first prime minister ever to march in Toronto’s pride parade and also for the first time raised the pride flag on Parliament Hill. The year also saw the horrific shooting massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, where 49 people were killed.
At the flag-raising ceremony in Saint John during the lunch hour, a moment of silence was held focused on the victims of the attack.
President of Saint John Pride Mike Cummings says that pride is still just as important as ever.
“To have this time where we can celebrate and reflect back on those who we might have lost in the past and, you know, there’s still work to be done, there’s still people who don’t understand the LGBTQ-plus community,” says Cummings.
When it comes to Saint John’s level of acceptance when it comes to the community Cummings says that Saint John is quite accepting.
“Saint John as a whole is accepting, as with anywhere there’s still a few folks who don’t understand or don’t have any friends who are LGBTQ so it’s like anywhere, really, you get those people anywhere but we have to stay focused on the positive and the progress that we’ve made without forgetting the hardships that we’ve shared as well.”
The pride flag is raised outside of Saint John city hall, marking the official start of pride week. pic.twitter.com/YrJuUIyAGO
— Laura Lyall (@LauraLyall) August 3, 2016
Both Saint John-Rothesay MP Wayne Long and Saint John mayor Don Darling spoke at the ceremony, which is the official start of the pride week. Darling is going to be grand marshal of the pride parade on Saturday. He says he’s on call:
“You let me know what I can do,” says Darling. “The vision is for a community that is one that is accepting and where folks are free to be themselves and happy.”
An honor to raise the pride flag on behalf of the city. https://t.co/ha2fuLGPAY
— Don Darling (@dondarlingSJ) August 3, 2016
Here is a list of the events:
