CELEBRATING PRINCETON PRIDE: Princeton’s annual Pride Month Flag Raising took place on Friday, May 29, to kick off a month of activities throughout the area to celebrate LGBTQ+ visibility and inclusion. (Photo by Matthew Hersh)
By Matthew Hersh
Community members, elected officials, advocates, and students gathered outside the Princeton Municipal Building on Friday, May 29, to raise the Pride flag and mark the beginning of Pride Month, an annual tradition that speakers said serves as both a celebration and a reminder of the ongoing work required to build an inclusive community.
The ceremony brought together representatives from the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, members of Princeton Council, and residents from across the region. Throughout the event, speakers returned to a common theme: Pride is not confined to a single month, but is reflected in the everyday work of creating belonging, protecting dignity, and supporting one another.
In keynote remarks before the flag raising, Councilwoman Leticia Fraga described the event as more than a symbolic gesture.
“As we prepare to raise the flag to kick off Pride Month, I’m reminded that this is not only a celebration, it’s a promise,” said Fraga. “A promise that our municipality stands for belonging, for dignity, and for the simple truth that every person deserves to live fully and safely.”
Fraga said the Pride flag represents a message to LGBTQ+ residents that they are seen, welcomed, and valued members of the community.
“If you’re wondering whether you will be accepted, whether you will be safe, whether you will be understood, let this flag be your reminder,” she said. “You belong in our community.”
She described Pride as both a celebration of progress and a recognition of the struggles that made that progress possible.
“Pride was built from struggle,” Fraga said. “People who faced discrimination, who demanded fairness, who organized, who advocated, who kept showing up even when it would have been easier to disappear.”
Fraga also stressed that local government has a responsibility to support inclusion through policies, public services, and accountability.
“Pride Month is a starting point, not the finish line,” she said. “It’s the moment we turn our values into action and our action into accountability.”
Councilman Leighton Newlin echoed those sentiments while urging attendees to remain vigilant in the face of growing divisions.
“As we raise this Pride flag today, I think it is important that we do more than celebrate,” said Newlin. “We must also reflect, recommit, and remain vigilant.”
Newlin said every person who has felt unseen, dismissed, or pushed to the margins deserves belonging and dignity.
“That’s not charity,” he said. “That is humanity.”
He cautioned against assuming that communities are immune from prejudice simply because they view themselves as progressive.
“Let this flag be more than a symbol,” Newlin said. “Let it be a reminder to protect one another, to make room for one another, and to never allow fear, division, or hatred to convince us that some people are more deserving of dignity than others.”
Among those in attendance was longtime Princeton LGBTQ+ advocate Frank Mahood, one of the original members of the Gay Alliance of Princeton who represented University staff within the student organization and attended the first, international Gay Rights Congress in Edinburgh in 1974. Reflecting on the current political climate, Mahood said the progress made over decades of advocacy cannot be taken for granted.
“Bad things are happening all over the country, and I refuse to let go of the progress that we’ve made,” Mahood said. “We have to keep marching.”
Mahood and his husband, Chet Kabara, have been prominent members of Princeton’s LGBTQ+ community for decades. The couple will celebrate their 43rd anniversary at Princeton’s Pride on the Plaza on June 5.
In an interview following the ceremony, Sara Wasserman, Ph.D., queer educator and community organizer with the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, discussed what year-round LGBTQ+ advocacy looks like beyond Pride Month.
“One of the first things we always say is that Pride is not a month, it’s a movement,” Wasserman said.
She described the work as a daily commitment to caring for one another and creating spaces where people can be fully themselves.
Wasserman acknowledged that many people are feeling uncertainty amid the current national climate, making community connections more important than ever.
“We can’t lose focus on the small moments of connecting with people and belonging in community,”
she said.
She noted that the Bayard Rustin Center operates as a dedicated safe space seven days a week and offers all of its programs free of charge so that financial barriers do not prevent people from accessing support and community.
“Our strength comes from the volunteers, the community members, the interns, the public officials, literally anyone and everyone who chooses to spend that time in community with someone else,” said Wasserman. “To respect somebody’s pronouns, to look them in the eye when they’re talking, to really give a part of yourself when you’re connecting with someone else.”
Robt Martin Seda-Schreiber, chief activist of the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, said Pride celebrations should remain connected to the movement’s activist roots.
“We always have to keep in mind that Pride started as a protest,” said Seda-Schreiber. “So we absolutely celebrate. We dance and celebrate. We also march.”
While acknowledging the progress that has been made, he urged attendees and supporters to remain aware of the challenges that still exist.
“We have to recognize how far we’ve come, but absolutely be very cognizant of how far we have to go,” he said.
The event also featured remarks from Mack Harsell, an intern with the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, who spoke about youth advocacy, visibility, and the importance of showing up for one another.
Harsell reflected on a vigil held the previous evening for a transgender student who was recently killed and expressed hope for a future where celebrations of transgender lives outweigh moments of mourning.
“I dream of a day where there is more celebration of trans joy than there is mourning,” they said.
Harsell also emphasized that LGBTQ+ identity and advocacy do not begin and end with Pride Month.
“My queerness does not take days off,” said Harsell. “And neither should the fight to safeguard access to health care or mental health services.”
Quoting a line from their favorite show, The West Wing — “Decisions are made by those who show up” — Harsell encouraged attendees to remain engaged in their communities and to approach unfamiliar experiences with curiosity and compassion.
The presence of students from the Burlington County Institute of Technology added another dimension to the ceremony. Harsell said it was important for young people to witness a community publicly affirming that their lives and identities matter.
“Children are the seeds of tomorrow, and we must show them how to root passionately,” they said.
Princeton’s flag raising launched a month of LGBTQ+ celebrations across the area, including Pride on the Plaza, an all-ages community celebration on Friday, June 5, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Hinds Plaza at the Princeton Public Library. The event will feature music by DJ Darius the First, a drag performance by Gym Da Hollow, a community marketplace, family activities, and opportunities for residents to connect with local LGBTQ+ organizations.
Princeton’s largest Pride event, the Princeton Pride Parade and After-Party, takes place on Saturday, June 13, beginning at 10 a.m. Organized by the Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice, the parade features community groups, local businesses, students, faith organizations, and allies for a public celebration of LGBTQ+ visibility and inclusion, followed by an after-party and community programming.
In Lawrence Township, Lawrence PRIDEfest will be held on Sunday, June 14, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Lawrence High School. The event includes a Fun Run/Walk/Roll, live entertainment, food vendors, lawn games, community organizations, and family-friendly activities, creating a township-wide celebration of Pride and community connection.