First-ever flag-raising ceremony an uplifting start to Pride month

Thursday, June 1 was a day of many firsts in Northport Village.

While the first day of the month marked the beginning of a national celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride, it also marked the first time a Pride flag was raised by Northport Village officials, at Village Hall, in front of a crowd of LGBTQ community members, supporters, local officials and members of the clergy.

The 30-minute flag-raising ceremony included the chiming of church bells throughout Northport Village, words of support from multiple speakers, and a gathering of high school students there to witness the historic event.

The flag raising kicked off a month-long celebration of the LGBTQ community and, along with the Village’s first-ever Pridefest in the Park on June 17, will be remembered as an anchor event in the planning and promotion of Pride month in Northport.

Another first? Pridefest co-organizer Joe Schramm shared that, while he’s attended many events in support of the LGBTQ community, the flag raising in Northport was the first time LGBTQ allies outnumbered the actual LGBTQ community members in the crowd. “We are embraced by government and religious leaders, who are saying they stand up for our right to live and love,” he said from the podium.

Schramm also noted the personal impact of bringing Pride home to Northport. He said that in his life, he has faced physical violence, was ignored and denied services, and received disapproval from family members in a way that he can never erase from his mind. “But the worst judge was myself,” Schramm stated. “I always knew I was gay, but finally accepted it when I was in my late 20s. Acceptance is the absence of judging…so I stopped judging myself.” Being at the flag-raising ceremony was an embrace, he said, and it’s remarkable.

Trustee Meghan Dolan, who has been spearheading Pride month celebrations in Northport alongside Schramm, and with the support of Mayor Donna Koch, said that the flag raising highlights the idea of visibility. “We see this flag waving and we will see it all month. It is a reminder to open our minds and our hearts to more perspective and ways of life because those things give us a more complete picture of who we are as a community,” Dolan said.

Dolan shared parts of a letter a local parent wrote to the Village board of trustees expressing her gratitude for bringing Pride to Northport. “These events tell our kids that we see them and support them,” the letter read. “It makes my family feel loved by this community. We have faced plenty of hate since my son came out six years ago, but we also found a community who told us that we do belong. To the LGBTQ kids of Northport, this is everything.”

Several other community leaders spoke during the sunny and uplifting ceremony, including Northport Village Mayor Donna Koch, Huntington Town Supervisor Ed Smyth, Huntington Town Councilwoman Joan Cergol, Suffolk County LGBT Advisory Board Vice Chairperson Julie Grey-Owens, Pastor David Czeisel from Saint Paul’s United Methodist Church, and former Northport Village Trustee and Deputy Mayor Henry Tobin. James Graziano, a Northport High School graduate and current student at Eastman School of Music, sang the National Anthem.

In addition to the Pride flag waving at Village Hall for the duration of June, many local businesses showed their support with flags and window signs, including the Engeman Theater, Northport Historical Society, Signature Premier Properties, The Nest on Main, the Tin Rooster, Southdown Coffee, Alter’d Home, The Firefly Artists and many more.

To conclude the ceremony, Schramm acknowledged that Northport Pride is a grassroots effort that’s made possible with the support of local leaders, businesses, volunteers and residents. The Northport Pridefest will take place on Saturday, June 17 from 1 to 4pm.

“As a reminder,” Trustee Dolan said at the podium, “this work and our support of this community doesn’t end when June does. It is yearlong and lifelong.”