Two more North Carolina locales have issued official proclamations recognizing LGBTQ Pride Month, following a similar proclamation from Wake County on Monday this week.
Wake County issued its LGBTQ Pride Month proclamation for the first time, following a similar proclamation from North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper earlier this month.
Wake has now been joined by Raleigh and — to the surprise of many — Gastonia.
The Raleigh proclamation was presented on June 16 by Mayor Nancy MacFarlane. Receiving the proclamation were representatives of the LGBT Center of Raleigh.
“The City of Raleigh remains committed to treating all people with fairness and respect,” a statement from the city read online.
The proclamation, in part, commemorates the “dedication, bravery, and sacrifice of those who led the 1969 uprising at the Stonewall Tavern in Greenwich Village, which sparked the modern LGBTQ liberation movement in the United States.”
The proclamation also noted that “Raleigh is proud of the meaningful, long-lasting impacts the LGBTQ community has made and the contributions it has brought to our city’s rich and diverse history and culture.”
Raleigh’s proclamation marks the first time that the capital city, the capital county and state governor have all recognized Pride Month at the same time.
You can see the full Raleigh proclamation via Facebook, posted by the LGBT Center of Raleigh.
The small western Piedmont town of Gastonia also passed a Pride Month proclamation this week. That proclamation was also presented on June 19, and accepted by Ginger Feimster, president of PFLAG Gastonia.
The Gastonia proclamation, presented by Mayor Walter Reid and openly gay Councilmember Robert Kellogg, noted that “Gastonia has a diverse LGBT community that includes people of ethnicities, religions and professions,” and that “everyone should be able to live without fear of prejudice, discrimination, violence and hatred based on race, religion, gender identity or sexual orientation.”
You can read Gastonia’s proclamation here.