Rainbow Flag Rises Over Long Beach to Open Pride Weekend 2016

On Friday morning, May 20, 2016, the rainbow flag went up in Long Beach to open Pride weekend, and the Long Beach Post was there to capture it. For the second year in a row, Mayor Robert Garcia raised the Pride flag to kick off Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride weekend.

The morning was overcast, but the breeze off the water did its job. The Post reported that the mayor used the moment to talk about how Long Beach is seen by LGBTQ+ people across the country. He pointed to a 2014 study that ranked Long Beach among the top five most LGBTQ-friendly cities in the U.S., and to the city’s perfect score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s municipal index the previous year.

Long Beach has been named, continues to be named, one of the most LGBT-friendly cities, really anywhere.

Mayor Robert Garcia, as quoted by the Long Beach Post

The ceremony also set the table for a full weekend. That night brought the Pink Party and the 4th Annual Dyke March and Rally. The Post reminded readers that the parade and a Neon Trees concert on the main stage were still ahead on Sunday, with plenty in between.

A flag raising is a simple thing. You gather, you watch the colors climb, you cheer. But for many people in our community, seeing that flag fly in their own city is a moment they remember. It says this is home, and you belong here.

It’s time to get your #Pride on.

Long Beach Post

We are grateful to the City of Long Beach for standing with our community each May, and to the Long Beach Post for showing up early to share the moment with readers. That weekend, the 33rd annual festival and parade carried the theme Solidarity Through Pride, and it started right there under that flag.

Read the full story at Long Beach Post.