New Britain Pride Flag Raising Ceremony 2019 Comments
Thank you all for coming out and attending New Britain’s first Pride Flag Raising in honor of Pride Month, and a special thank you to our Police Department and Mayor for attending and participating.
Today is an exciting day, the kick-off event to Pride Week here in the City. Exactly, 722 days ago on the streets of New York City, during the Pride parade — Outside the Stonewall Inn, may I add — I had a vision of continuing the work of making New Britain and surrounding communities a better and more accepting place to live, work, and grow.
“New Britain Pride” at its core is an organization whose goal is to spread understanding for the LGBTQ+ Community through Pride Celebrations, advocacy, and education.
The classic pride flag — which we will be raising today — was first established in 1979. This flag has six stripes representing different aspects of our community.
- Red for Life
- Orange for Healing
- Yellow for Sunlight
- Green for Nature
- Blue for Harmony
- Purple for Spirit
Today is about our community coming together and having an impact on our city. As history has shown us, movements have always been successful when individuals come together in an open dialogue and become engaged with society — Only when this happens do policymakers take action. We want the greater New Britain community to become involved no matter your affiliation.
As we move, working together, we can build a better community. Our city has a deep and rich history with the faith-based community, and we want to get a dialogue going. In the coming months, New Britain Pride will be reaching out to members of our faith-based community to start this conversation. By no, means will this be an easy task, but if we are open and honest — together we can achieve a lot!
In closing, I am reminded of Margaret Mead’s famous quote, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Now, Let’s get to work and raise this flag! Happy Pride Month!
