Mayor Byron Brown and 2009’s Pride Grand Marshall, Madeline Davis, will raise the flag in the third annual Gay Pride Flag Raising Ceremony this Friday at 11:30AM across from City Hall. The City of Buffalo will be co-sponsoring the event which will kick off Gay Pride month of June in the Queen City along with Pride Buffalo, Rainbow Spirit Rising, OUTspoken for Equality, Stonewall Democrats of Western NY and the Madeline Davis GLBT Archives of WNY.
This year marks Buffalo’s 18th year of the Pride celebration, in honor of the landmark, the flag will wave from the 5th through the 12th. The full month of June is dedicated to the celebration of the accomplishments of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals (LGTB).
At the ceremony to follow, city officials, religious leaders, and representatives of local LGTB community groups will speak. The event will be followed a couple of days later, by the Gay Pride Parade. The parade will line up at 11AM and step off at 1PM on June 7th from Elmwood Avenue to Soldier Place. At the end of the parade route, there will be entertainment and a vendor area, as well as community information along with a cash bar tent. As a result of the parade, Bidwell Parkway will be closed to traffic on that Sunday.