Vigil for Orlando Victims and Flag-raising Ceremony of the LGBTQ Flag

(Union City, NJ) The City of Union City, Mayor Brian P. Stack and Board of Commissioners invite the community to a Vigil for Orlando Victims and Flag-raising Ceremony of the LGBTQ Flag in honor of LGBTQ Pride Month. The event will take place on Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 12:00 PM at International Park, 38th Street & Palisade Avenue in Union City, NJ. The Mayor and Commissioners will be present, as well as other guest speakers. This event marks the first time that the City of Union City raises the LGBTQ Flag.

“Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month (LGBT Pride Month) is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan. The Stonewall riots were a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States. In the United States the last Sunday in June was initially celebrated as “Gay Pride Day,” but the actual day was flexible. In major cities across the nation the “day” soon grew to encompass a month-long series of events. Today, celebrations include pride parades, picnics, parties, workshops, symposia and concerts, and LGBT Pride Month events attract millions of participants around the world. Memorials are held during this month for those members of the community who have been lost to hate crimes or HIV/AIDS. The purpose of the commemorative month is to recognize the impact that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals have had on history locally, nationally, and internationally.”

“In 1994, a coalition of education-based organizations in the United States designated October as LGBT History Month. In 1995, a resolution passed by the General Assembly of the National Education Association included LGBT History Month within a list of commemorative months. LGBT History Month is also celebrated with annual month-long observances of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history, along with the history of the gay rights and related civil rights movements. National Coming Out Day (October 11), as well as the first “March on Washington” in 1979, are commemorated in the LGBT community during LGBT History Month.”

Mayor Stack says, “Please join us in solidarity with the families of those who lost their lives in Orlando. The Commissioners and I are devastated by the senseless act of violence that claimed the lives of all these innocent people and injured so many others. We grieve for them and for their friends, families and the entire community.”