PRIDE 2021-FIRST PERSON
Flag-raising launches a week of celebrating LGBTQ+ with comedy, music and more
St. John’s Mayor Danny Breen raises the Pride flag at St. John’s City Hall July 16 at the start of Pride Week 2021 festivities. At right is Deputy Mayor Sheilagh O’leary.
“It’s important that we ensure that we have a community that includes everybody.” Sheilagh O’leary Deputy Mayor
St. John’s Mayor Danny Breen pulled down on the ropes to raise the Pride flag on the morning of July 16, as Deputy Mayor Sheilagh O’leary addressed a small crowd gathered at city hall to mark the beginning of Pride Week in the metro area.
“This is certainly a week of incredible celebrations of diversity in our community,” O’leary said. “It’s important that we ensure that we have a community that includes everybody.”
Breen said that though the centrepiece of Pride Week, the Pride parade, will not take place for the second year in a row due to restrictions put in place because of the COVID19 pandemic, Pride Week is a good time of year.
“We always get a bit of good weather and everybody’s feeling up, so it’s a good news week,” Breen said. “It’s important to remind people that this city is a collection of different communities, different groups, different people, different backgrounds, so it’s always important to celebrate those and to be an inclusive city. One of our goals as a city is to be a city where people can work, play and raise a family, and a place where people feel like they belong, and this helps people feel they belong in our community.”
Greg Noseworthy, co-chair internal of St. John’s Pride, said that, much like last year, they had to find ways to celebrate while keeping safety in mind.
“Safety is always the number one priority, so making sure that we’re doing that and being able to have a safe way to celebrate this week is the key thing for us,” Noseworthy said.
The committee has put together a week of comedy shows, music, drag shows and beer tastings, as well as family friendly events this year.
For full details, visit the St. John’s Pride Facebook page.