Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - "After two years, we are finally back. After two long years of a lot of loss and pain, to begin our Pride Week, where we have finally returned to all in-person events."
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers of Buffalo Pride Week and Pride Month took a two-year hiatus to focus on protecting the residents of the City of Buffalo and the Western New York region from COVID-19. However, patience has paid off, as organizers and other local officials celebrated the return of in-person festivities with the raising of the Pride flag in Niagara Square on Tuesday.
"It is a real pleasure to have this celebration back again, to be able to join together again and celebrate Pride in Buffalo, in Erie County, and in Western New York," said Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown. "I want you to know that we will be supporting every element of the celebration of Pride in the City of Buffalo."
"They say that to live is to suffer. To endure the suffering is to give meaning to the suffering," said Congressman Brian Higgins, who was also on-hand for Tuesday's flag raising ceremony. "The wisdom that came from the suffering over the past couple of weeks has been very, very difficult, but it reminds us that we all need each other. And this is an important celebration. Pride Week, Pride Month, to celebrate our diversity, to celebrate all that is good in Buffalo."
Buffalo Pride Week and Pride Month is an annual commemoration of LGBTQ+ history and culture, as well as a display of the strengthening power of open-arms diversity.
"As a kickoff of Pride, we also raise this flag to take our place, and refresh our purpose. We also raise this flag in celebration and remembrance of those that have came before us, and those that will come after us," said Kelly Craig, Executive Director of the Pride Center of Western New York. "Each year, Pride Month and Pride Week are opportunities to find strength through love, inclusivity and unity. Three things that have been especially needed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the issues that have recently struck our communities."
According to the Buffalo Pride Week's website, "Buffalo Pride Week strives to uplift the LGBTQ+ community by raising awareness for and providing access to diverse events that bring people together in the spirit of celebration, advocacy and engagement."
The Pride movement in Buffalo has had a long history, dating as far back as the 1970s. The first major Pride event in Buffalo was held in 1991 in an outdoor, public place, and the movement has only grown exponentially over the years, with support for the LGBTQ+ community seemingly reaching all-time highs every year.
"I remember being at the Pride Parade in the '90s, coming down here with, like, 100 people. There were more protesters than people marching. There were about 30 people at Lafayette Square, a couple of tables and a drag show, and that was it," said Executive Director of GLYS WNY, Jack Kavanaugh. "Then you come and you see it now; I remember being in high school and we were the first high school to march in the Pride Parade. Now, as GLYS, we lead hundreds of high school students. And I think it's important for young people to be able to see that this is a community that cares, and it's a community that sees them and loves them."
While Pride Week will officially last through Sunday, June 5 with the Pride Parade and Pride Festival taking place, events will be taking place all throughout the month of June to commemorate Pride Month in Western New York. A complete calendar of events can be found here:
"Please take your kids, come out and enjoy Canalside and the parades and the many facilities that Pride has to offer," said Buffalo Common Council member Mitch Nowakowski. "You will also not only see a wonderful community that loves you and that accepts you, but you will realize that Pride comes from within you, and that we all have Pride. That's why we call it Pride."
This year's Pride Month and Pride Week certainly has a bit more meaning to it than in the past in Western New York. The Buffalo community was recently struck by an act of domestic terrorism when an 18-year-old White male came from out of town to commit a racially motivated hate crime in the East Side community, shooting and killing 10 Black people at the Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Avenue.
Many of the members of the LGBTQ+ community in Buffalo say they felt the impact of the mass shooting on May 14. Some said on Tuesday they are no stranger to terrorist attacks such as that, especially over the years on the LGBTQ+ community. That is why the message of this event every year has that much more significance in 2022.
"I leave you with these words my friends, allies, ladies, gentleman and everyone in-between: We were all human until race disconnected us, religion separated us, politics divided us, and wealth classified us. I leave you with love, peace, and solidarity," said Vice President of the Stonewall Democrats, Ari Moore.
More from Tuesday's Pride Flag raising ceremony is available for you in the player below: