Nutley Pride: Town Celebrates LGBTQ Community With Proclamation [WATCH]

NUTLEY, NJ — The Nutley Board of Commissioners presented a proclamation to celebrate Pride Month at their meeting last week.

Nutley Pride executive director Angelica Midolo thanked those in the room for their “genuine allyship.”

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Midolo made an impassioned speech in support of the local LGBTQ community:

“When Nutley Pride was founded in 2019, its blueprint was simple, yet vital: to ensure inclusivity, and safety for the LGBTQ+ community here in Nutley. Since then, we have proudly extended that throughout Essex County. We have built spaces where communities can gather in joy and in love and in radical freedom of being unapologetically who they are. Our mission is rooted in a simple truth: our community deserves to be seen, heard, protected, and loved. While this allows me the honor to stand here and speak on behalf of Nutley Pride, the real heartbeat of this organization is the people in our community. We're the neighbors you pass in Yanticaw Park who smile and say, ‘Good morning.’ We're the familiar faces that nod at you in Ralph's Pizza while waiting for the perfectly well-done slice. We're the people who make Nutley Pride what it is, and we are the people who make Nutley great.”

The proclamation, which was read by Mayor John Kelly III, states as follows:

WHEREAS, our nation was founded on the principle of equal rights for all people, but the fulfillment of this nation’s promise has been long in coming for many Americans. Some of the most inspiring moments in our history, have arisen from the various civil rights movements that have brought one group after another from the margins to the mainstream of American Society; and

WHEREAS, the Nutley Board of Commissioners welcomes and encourages diversity and inclusion within our community, and everyone should be able to live without fear of prejudice, discrimination, violence, and hatred, based on race, religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation; and

WHEREAS, June 28, 2026, marks the 57th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising in New York City. It is the historic turning point where the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and plus (LGBTQ+) citizens rose up and fought against the discriminator, which sparked the gay rights movement; and

WHEREAS, in the movement towards civil rights for LGBTQ+ people, celebrations have taken place around the country every June to commemorate “Pride Month” and to recognize the advancement of the LGBTQ+ community; and

WHEREAS, celebrating Pride Month does raise awareness and provide support and advocacy for the LGBTQ plus community and is an opportunity to become educated, engage in dialogue, strengthen alliances, and build understanding. While there has certainly been remarkable progress towards acceptance and equality, members of the LGBTQ+ community still continue to face, insensitivity, discrimination, and intolerance; and

WHEREAS, we must commit to support and accept LGBTQ+ individuals, in particular, our youth, who, compared to their peers, are more likely to experience, violence and bullying at school, suffer from depression, struggle with substance use, and to have attempted suicide; and

WHEREAS, Executive Director, Angelica Midolo and Community Engagement Coordinator, Paul Blank work tirelessly throughout the year to raise awareness and engage the community through various events and activities;

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT PROCLAIMED, by the Nutley Board of Commissioners in the Township of Nutley, County of Essex, State of New Jersey, hereby proclaim and recognize the month of June as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and plus (LGBTQ+) Pride Month, and we urge all residents to actively promote the principles of equality and liberty, and we remind the LGBTQ+ community that they are loved and cherished and seen for who they are, deserving of dignity, respect, and support throughout our Township.

Watch footage of the proclamation here, or view it below (video is cued to the 1:03 mark):

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