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A Few Clouds and Breezy Flag raising outside L.B. City Hall kicks off Pride Month
Orlando shooting memorial included in festival
More than two dozen people gathered outside City Hall on the first day of June to watch as the Long Island LGBT Network and Long Beach officials raised a rainbow flag to kick off what is nationally recognized as Pride Month.
LGBT Network CEO Dr. David Kilmnick joined Long Beach City Manager Jack Schnirman, City Council members Len Torres and Anthony Eramo, music icon Randy Jones and Javier Nava, a victim of last year’s Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting, in Kennedy Plaza to announce that a beachside memorial service will take place next weekend during the Pride festival to honor the 49 people killed in the shooting.
“For me, it could be easy just to stay in my house with my pain, but I think we need a change,” said Nava, who was shot in the stomach at the Pulse nightclub. “Our communities need big change.”
The city expects more than 10,000 people to flock to the beaches of Long Beach to celebrate the three-day Pride festival that will feature a 5K, a beach party, a parade, a Shabbat service and a concert.
“Our administration here in Long Beach is progressive, inclusive and we have a welcoming community,” Schnirman said, noting that earlier this year, city officials updated the city’s policy manual to protect transgender employees. “And of course, we’re proud that next weekend we’re going to host this incredible event.”
He also thanked Gov. Cuomo’s office, adding, “We wouldn’t be able to coordinate and pull off such a big event without the support of the governor and the tremendous grant support that’s been provided.”
The city will be reimbursed for its expenses relating to the festival, a city spokesperson said.
All hotels in the area are sold out for the weekend, Kilmnick said, and Long Island is expecting a major tourist boom.
“Tourism is a critical component of Long Island’s economy,” said Jamie Claudio of the Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Visitors spend $5.5 billion across both counties every year, generating over $7 million in state and local taxes… and thanks to the vision and determination of both the City of Long Beach and the LGBT Network, that number is going to be just a little bit higher this year.”
People are expected to travel from 14 states across the country as well as Canada, Kilmnick said, to experience the largest Pride event to be held on a beach in the United States.
“All the ‘covfefe’ in the world cannot stop us as we unite as one strong Long Island community,” Kilmnick said, alluding to a typo President Trump made on his Twitter account on Wednesday. “I hope you all join us in our celebrations and commemorations of the past and stand with us as we forge ahead with a tremendous amount of work we must do to make this country what it was intended to be: fair, just and equal for all.”
