Buffalo, NY - Mayor Byron W. Brown today was joined by representatives of Buffalo’s LGBTQ community and several elected officials for the 31st Annual Pride flag raising in Niagara Square to kick-off Buffalo Pride Week 2022.
“Buffalo Pride Week takes on special significance this year in the wake of the May 14 tragedy at the Jefferson Avenue Tops Market, when a hate-filled outsider came to our City and took the lives of 10 innocent people, for the premeditated purpose of eliminating those who were different from him,” Mayor Brown said.
“Buffalo Pride Week 2022 will emphasize that Buffalo is a place of love, a welcoming place of inclusion and diversity, where we work every day to recognize and protect the dignity of all, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity,” Mayor Brown added.
“We celebrate Pride week as an act of liberation, both in celebration of and in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community. You are seen and you are loved!,” City of Buffalo Chief Diversity Officer Chantele Thompson said.
In May 2018, Mayor Brown instituted a progressive set of City of Buffalo Workplace Gender Transition Guidelines for city employees, as part of his mission to make Buffalo a City of Opportunity for all. Department heads now have official guidelines to follow when an employee is undergoing, or has undergone, the process of gender transition in the workplace, and use them to best support the transitioning individual. The City of Buffalo also offers trans-inclusive employee health insurance coverage and installed gender-neutral bathrooms at City Hall.
“As we raise the Pride Flag, we officially begin LGBTQ+ Pride Week here in Buffalo and throughout WNY in June. We stand together, in the face of these unimaginably trying times for our community and nation, as one Buffalo. We are united against hate, and united in all that is our diversity and our Pride. We are proud that here in WNY, we are all celebrated by our government. We thank the City of Buffalo and all our partners in government, as well as every beautiful member of our community who do their part to lift each other up, and make our home a great city that stands for the equality of LGBTQ+ people every day,” said Bryan Ball, President, Stonewall Democrats of WNY
Buffalo’s City Hall dome and BuffaloLIT sites will be lit in rainbow colors tonight, May 31 and tomorrow, Wednesday, June 1, to mark Buffalo Pride Week 2022.
Buffalo Pride Week’s signature events are back this year as in-person gatherings after a two-year pandemic-caused hiatus. The Pride Parade will step-off from the corner of Elmwood and Forest avenues at 11 a.m., Sunday, June 5, followed by the Pride Festival at Canalside, featuring community organizations, family activities, food, beverage and retail vendors, and live performances.
Visit buffaloprideweek.com to purchase festival tickets and see a complete list of Pride Week 2022 events.