PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS…the Town of Madison is committed to provide an inclusive and welcoming community for all, including the LGBTQI+ community; and

WHEREAS… the uprising at the Stonewall Inn that started on June 28, 1969 sparked a liberation movement for the LGBTQI+ community and was a call to action that continues to inspire us to live up to our Nation’s promise of equality, liberty, and justice for all; and

WHEREAS… in June 2000 President Bill Clinton declared June to be the official Gay and Lesbian Pride Month. June was formally chosen as the month in honor of the Stonewall Riots; and

WHEREAS… In 2022 President Joseph Biden proclaimed June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (LGBTQI+) Pride Month and called upon the people of the United States to recognize the achievements of the LGBTQI+ community, to celebrate the great diversity of the American people, and to wave their flags of pride high; and

WHEREAS…the LGBTQI+ Community faces discrimination in their families, schools and communities every day, which contributes to significantly higher rates of suicidality, anxiety and depression than those who do not. Compounded by the COVID-19 Pandemic, the mental health of LGBTQI+ individuals, particularly young people, is being even more negatively impacted; and

WHEREAS…Research has found that LGBTQI+ youth who live in a community that is accepting of LGBTQI+ people reported significantly lower rates of attempting suicide than those who do not; and

WHEREAS…all members of the Madison community, including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex and asexual have the right to feel safe, not be discriminated against and to live without the threat of harassment; and

WHEREAS…supporting Madison’s LGBTQI+ community aligns with the Town’s objective to co-create a more inclusive and equitable community that promotes unity and honors diversity; and

WHEREAS…the LGBTQI+ community has made great strides; however, work remains in order to achieve full equality, inclusion, and acceptance.

NOW THEREFORE, we, the Board of Selectmen do hereby unanimously declare June 2023 as Pride Month in the Town of Madison and order the flying of the Pride Flag outside Madison Town Campus for the month of June, to show public acceptance and celebration of the LGBQTI+ community and to honor the on-going civil rights movement.

DONE…this, the 22nd day of May, two thousand and twenty-three in the Town of Madison, CT.