Newton Pride Flag Raising Ceremony to be Held Wednesday

NEWTON, MA - For the third year in a row, Newton will kick off LGBTQ Pride Month by hoisting the Pride Flag at City Hall Wednesday evening.

The raising will take place on the Homer Street side of City Hall across from the Newton Free Library. Mayor Setti Warren and the Newton Human Rights Commission will be joined by guests of honor Holly Ryan, a Newton resident and advocate for the LGBTQ community, and former Newton resident Dr. Deborah Bershel, a primary care physician and transgender woman.

"Today, we celebrate the victory of Pride in my home city. In Newton we are always leading the way on civil rights for all," Ryan said in a press release. "I’m humbly grateful to be an honored guest at Newton’s City Hall Pride Flag Raising ceremony, and I feel blessed to have accomplished so much with Mayor Warren as I served as a Human Rights Commissioner for the past four years."

"Newton is a strong ally and supporter of equality and progress for LGBTQ rights," Warren added in the release. "We are proud to have passed an ordinance in 2014 that provides nondiscrimination protections based on gender identity or expression. As the officials on Beacon Hill continue to debate the transgender nondiscrimination bill before them, I urge them to look at the success we had here in Newton and pass the same protections for every transgender person in the state."

The ceremony will begin this evening at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.