CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Chesapeake Mayor Richard West proclaimed June as "Pride Month" in the city in what a local pro-LGBTQ+ organization says is the first-ever proclamation of its kind in the city.
Pride in the 'Peake, a nonprofit focusing on LGBTQIA+ family and youth events and resources in the community, posted the full proclamation to their social media. Mayor West also acknowledged the proclamation during a city council meeting on Tuesday.
In Mayor West's proclamation, he acknowledged the nationwide commemoration of the "New York City Stonewall uprising of 1969," and continued by saying:
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, LGBTQIA+ individuals have had immeasurable impact to the cultural, civic and economic successes of our community... now, therefore, I Rcihard West, Mayor of the City of Chesapeake, do hereby proclaim the month of June as 'PRIDE MONTH' in the City of Chesapeake."
Pride in the 'Peake says the historic proclamation is a reminder that "Chesapeake both acknowledges and values its LGBTQIA+ citizens."
The official day of the non-profit's free and open-to-the-public, festival-style Pride Month celebration is on June 9 from 12 to 5 p.m. at Summit Pointe on Belaire Avenue.
