Beverly To Host Pride Month Flag-Raising Event

BEVERLY, MA — Beverly residents are invited to a Pride Month flag-raising on Thursday.

The event will be Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Beverly City Hall.

The city, Beverly Public Schools and the Human Rights Committee are hosting the event to honor the history and the contributions of the Beverly LGBTQIA+ community.

Pride Month occurs during June in deference to the Stonewall Uprising, a tipping point in the struggle for equality among people who identify as LGBTQ. New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969. Such raids were common, but patrons fought back, resulting in days of violent clashes across Greenwich Village.

The observance started as Gay Pride Day on the last Sunday in June, but soon grew to the point that June calendars around the world are packed with Pride parades, parties, workshops, symposiums and concerts.

Pride Month 2024 occurs amid a historic surge in bills targeting LGBTQ rights, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Over the last few years, states have advanced a record number of bills attacking LGBTQ rights, especially transgender youth, the civil rights group said.

The ACLU said that while more states every year are passing laws to protect LGBTQ people, others advance bills that target transgender people, limit local protections and allow the use of religion to discriminate.

Hundreds of pieces of legislation nationwide have been filed in state legislatures this year, according to the ACLU tracking.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)