Raising the Pride Flag amidst controversy

SALISBURY, Md – PFLAG Salisbury held a flag-raising ceremony Saturday celebrating the start of Pride Month.

It was a tumultuous week for the local LGBTQ community, after mayor Randy Taylor said they could not raise the pride flag at the city’s newly opened Unity Square. “I encourage the mayor to look outside himself and to actually look at the people that he serves. All of them,” said Mark DeLancey, Executive Director of P-Flag Salisbury.

“It is really moving, the fact that pride still goes on,” said Vienna Cavazos, Diversity Lead at Bulletproof Pride.

The ceremony featured a number of guest speakers representing a wide range of people from the community, including local business-owners and members of the city council.

Cavazos was one those guest speakers, expressing the community’s dismay at the mayor’s decision, but he was also encouraged–and moved–by the way the community has come together to show support: “I expect where I work, where I pay taxes, where I do business, and [where] I frequent, to be open to people like me…This ceremony shows that the City of Salisbury, no matter what, will be open and accepting to everyone.”

DeLancey said that even with the location change, he was happy with the success of the event–and organizers don’t plan to stop waving the pride flag anytime soon: “It’s a good turnout. It’s a good event and it’s something that I’m glad that we’re able to provide for the community. And it’s something that we’ll make sure we continue every year.”

Setting aside the local controversy, DeLancey doesn’t want people to forget why they celebrate Pride Month in the first place. “It’s a start to let people know that–not just that they’re okay, but that they can thrive.”