Latest news with #MiltonShapp
CBS News
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Philadelphia's 2025 Pride weekend will feature 600-foot Progress Pride flag, largest in U.S., organizers say
The largest Progress Pride flag in the U.S. will return and be even larger in 2025 as Philadelphia's LGBTQ+ community and allies gather for the Philadelphia Pride March and Festival. Organizers with Philly Pride 365 have already announced a ton of plans for the kickoff weekend starting Friday, May 30, but more announcements are coming in the next one to two weeks, including performers, stage locations and food truck and vendor lists. The group says this year's Pride Month is extra special in Philadelphia — it marks 50 years since former Pennsylvania Gov. Milton Shapp signed an executive order making the Keystone State the first to prohibit discrimination toward LGBTQ+ state employees. The order was later expanded to include state contractors as well. Advocates have called for the Pennsylvania Senate to pass the Fairness Act, a bill that ensures equal protections for LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians. Philly Pride 365 When is the 2025 Philadelphia Pride Parade? Pride Weekend in Philadelphia features several events leading up to the June 1 Pride March, not a parade. Things kick off with the Pride Around the City event on Friday, May 30. During this event, the massive Progress Pride flag will make its way to several major landmarks around the city. The flag will be 600 feet long this year, longer than an average Center City block. Last year's 400-foot Pride flag stretched down all the steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, so it'll be interesting to see how Pride Around the City handles the extra 200 feet of fabric! The Philadelphia Pride Flag seen on Independence Mall in 2023. Philly Pride 365 The 600-foot flag will be the largest pride flag in Philly history and may set a record for the biggest pride flag in Pennsylvania. It was designed for the 2025 Philly Pride March and made in the state. Saturday, the day after Pride Around the City, features the LUV (Legacy, Unity, Visibility Awards) and the Pride Promenade held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Sunday's Pride March will kick off from 6th and Walnut streets at 10:30 a.m. and end in the Gayborhood. Philly Pride 365 says the exact route is still being finalized and will be revealed closer to the date of the march. The events this year have a new fiscal sponsor, the Urban Affairs Coalition. Philadelphia Pride Festival is larger this year Following the march, the Philadelphia Pride Festival is happening from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. The festival area will extend from Walnut Street down to Pine and from Juniper Street east to Quince Street. The festival will feature entertainment zones with stages, a youth and family zone with drag story time, a "sober vibes zone" that's alcohol-free, a sensory-friendly zone and the Sapphic Way. There's no admission or registration required to attend the festival, and food and drink are pay-as-you-go. Watch out for road closure announcements closer to the event. What is the Progress Pride Flag and how is it different from the traditional rainbow flag? The most common rainbow Pride flag has six stripes: red, orange, yellow, green, royal blue and purple. The late activist Gilbert Baker is widely credited for creating this flag in 1978, originally with eight stripes. The redesign and cut to six stripes happened in part due to a shortage of commercially available pink fabric and a desire to keep the number of stripes even. According to the Human Rights Campaign, the Progress Pride Flag features all the colors of the traditional flag with additional white, pink and light blue stripes to represent the transgender community, and black and brown stripes to represent LGBTQ+ people of color. The black stripe is also a memorial to the thousands of people who died during the HIV/AIDS epidemic, HRC says.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pennsylvania officials push to protect LGBTQ rights
(WHTM) — Pennsylvania was once first in the nation when it comes to protecting the rights of LGBTQ citizens. The problem is, advocates say, that it was 50 years ago, and the Commonwealth has fallen far behind. This anniversary is a significant milestone in the LGBTQ civil rights movement in both Pennsylvania and the nation. Fifty years ago, Milton Shapp, Pennsylvania's first Jewish Governor, signed an executive order protecting state workers from sexual orientation discrimination. Pennsylvania was the first state in the nation to grant such protections. Years later, is Pennsylvania still the pinnacle of protecting LGBTQ rights? 'Certainly not first in the nation, and I'd argue we're pretty far behind,' said Rep. Jessica Benham (D-Allegheny County). 'That to me is sad.' Since Shapp's executive order, no governor has signed an actual law protecting the LGBTQ community from being fired or denied housing because of their orientation. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now 'It's a piece of legislation that's been introduced over and over,' said Rep. Benham. The House passed the Fairness Act bipartisanly last session, but the Republican-controlled Senate didn't move it and declined to comment as to why. 'This is absolutely a no-brainer because this is a Commonwealth that honors dignity, freedom, work, to be honest,' said Rep. Ismail Smith-Wade-El (D-Lancaster County). 'To be honest, I love talking to you, but I don't know why we're even having this conversation. We should have passed this bill before I got to be a legislator, so we can get to real complicated problems.' Many might wonder if a law is necessary. In 2025, are folks really being fired or kicked out of their homes for being LGBTQ? 'Yes, they are,' said Mark Segal, an LGBTQ activist. 'They still are. I get calls from people literally sometimes crying, saying, 'I lost my job. They found out I'm gay, and I'm being thrown out. Where do I go?' I still get those calls today, 50 years later. That's what the Fairness Act would change.' Interestingly, Milton Shapp was not 'Milton Shapp.' He was born Milton Shapiro, but he changed his name, in fear of anti-semitism. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
