4 days ago
7th annual Pride Flag Raising Ceremony held in Rockville
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. () – Dozens of people were at Veterans Memorial Plaza in Rockville Tuesday morning for the 7th annual Pride Flag Raising Ceremony.
It's an event that is meant to celebrate and acknowledge members of the LGBTQ+ community who call Montgomery County home.
'As we raise the flag, we do more than celebrate Pride, we issue a declaration that we are here, we are whole and we will not be erased,' Phillip Alexander Downie, who grew up in Montgomery County and now serves as the executive director for the MoCo Pride Center, said.
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People in Rockville are celebrating the positive impact that the LGBTQ+ community has had on the county.
'Pride is a time to affirm our commitment to inclusion and equity and diversity and acceptance,' Montgomery County councilmember Evan Glass said.
Glass, who is openly gay, was among the dozens who attended the annual Pride Flag Raising Ceremony at Veterans Memorial Plaza.
'The flag is a symbol of love of resilience and of authenticity,' he said,
Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) was there to show his support for the community.
'We can all take pride in the fact that we live in a county that is committed to the success and the flourishing and the belonging of every person who lives here and every young person who is growing up here,' Raskin said.
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With more work to be done, many recognize the need to reaffirm that commitment.
'We're proud to raise this flag,' Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said. 'We're proud to be in this work with you, and we're not going anywhere.'
Montgomery County's first LGBTQ+ Community Center will open in Bethesda later this summer.
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