RICHMOND, Va. -- The City of Richmond will raise a Pride Flag over Richmond City Hall on Tuesday afternoon in honor of LGBTQ Pride Month.
In addition to the flag-raising ceremony, Dominion Energy and the Hampton Inn will display rainbow lights in their downtown buildings.
The lights at Main Street Station will also display rainbow colors later this month.
“This is a big deal. Never has so much been done to observe LGBTQ Pride Month in Richmond,” James Millner, Director of Virginia Pride, said. “We are literally turning Richmond rainbow, and it’s fantastic.”
June was selected to be National LGBTQ Pride Month to commemorate Supreme Court rulings that have advanced civil rights for LGBTQ Americans and the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City.
The flag displayed in Richmond is known as the “Progress Flag.”
"[It's] a variation of the iconic rainbow pride flag that symbolizes the fight for LGBTQ equality," a spokesperson for Virginia Pride wrote in a statement. "The Progress Flag includes black and brown stripes to represent LGBTQ people of color and pink and blue stripes to represent members of the transgender community."
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said he hoped LGBTQ Pride Month celebrations sent the message that Richmond welcomed the LGBTQ community.
"I am proud of the significant progress Richmond has made in becoming more inclusive,” Mayor Stoney said in a statement. “With our policies and these powerful statements of support, we are sending a clear message that LGBTQ people belong here, that Richmond is their city, too, and that they are a bright thread in the fabric of our community that deserves to be celebrated.”
“It wasn’t long ago that we were shunned and shamed for who we are and who we love," Luise “Cheezi” Farmer, the Founder of UGRC/Black Pride RVA and Chair of Diversity Richmond’s Board, said in a statement. "It’s incredibly meaningful for the City and other businesses to celebrate our community in these big and bold ways."
Other Pride events this month include:
- The Richmond Kickers’ Pride Night game on Saturday, June 5 at 6:30 p.m. [Tickets]
- “Pride at the Market,” a DJ dance party and drag show on 17th Street Market on Saturday, June 26 at 5 p.m. [Tickets]
"It’s difficult to put into words how much these shows of support mean to the LGBTQ community,” Farmer said.
