On June 4th, 2022, the City of Beacon hosted the Raising of its Progress Pride Flag. During this event, Mayor Kyriacou announced a Proclamation Of the Month Of June as Pride Month. ALBB is republishing the speeches of KkDevina Naimool and Donna Minkowitz. Kara Marie Dean read and co-authored the Community Pledge of Human Rights Commission (HRC) of the City of Beacon (KkDevina is another co-author). As background, when Mayor Lee Kyriacou was elected Mayor, he purchased the Pride flag with his own personal funds, he noted during City Council Meetings, when the City of Beacon began raising the flag each June.

kk (kay-kay, all pronouns), is a Founding Partner at Collective Justice, and is the Human Rights Commissioner for the City of Beacon’s Human Rights Commission. Please see their reaction to the 2022 Buffalo massacre here here, as well as the reaction from the granddaughter of one of those who were murdered.

What follows below are speeches delivered at the raising of the flag:

Preamble By kk naimool

On Saturday May 14th, 2022, 10 Black Americans were murdered, in a racially motivated attack at a local grocery in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, NY. That shooter drove 2 hours from his home in Conklin, NY to Buffalo, NY.

2 hours in another direction sits the City of Beacon.

Altogether, this year alone there have been 233 mass shootings in our country and more than 18,000 deaths from gun violence.

Today, WE, the City of Beacon’s Human Rights Commission, stand together with ALL of our Beacon community to celebrate life, promote community safety, and stand up to bigotry.

The Pride flag is a symbol of unity, a celebration of diversity and a rejection of systems of oppression. As we enter into the month of June, LGBTQ Pride Month, we remember the Stonewall Riots and the rallying cry of Black Trans Women who demanded justice and pushed back against government sanctioned violence.

We remember the victims of the Pulse Massacre.

We encourage our community members to come together to mourn, to stand in solidarity with our community members against bigotry and hatred.

We encourage our community members to come together and celebrate life

We encourage our Beacon community to join us as we work together to build a better Beacon.

Speech From Donna Minkowitz

I would like to speak about the national context in which we are raising this pride flag today. The previous five years have seen an unprecedented attack on the trans community in this country, coordinated by the right wing, in which states have passed over 20 laws that target trans people, and especially trans youth.

Some make it a felony for parents or doctors to help trans young people get the healthcare they need, one in Texas requires the government to investigate parents who support their trans kids for child abuse. Some make it illegal for people to change the gender under which the state categorizes them, and some ban trans youngsters from participating in sports or even using the bathrooms corresponding to their gender. Over 300 more such laws are currently under consideration in state legislatures.

The result is terror and extreme hardship for these young people and their families, and horribly, an increase in youth suicide in a population that is already at major risk for suicidality.

I want to talk about the reason for this massive, coordinated attack, which has also shown up locally in the attempts to ban books like Gender Queer and to pack the school board in Wappingers to prevent modest efforts to teach children about diverse students and families.

Why has the right wing chosen to go after trans and non-binary people especially? Because they can. Because it is an issue of opportunity, and to gain power, they always need a scapegoat, someone to drum up fear and hatred against. Currently in the United States, they've decided that trans and gender nonconforming people are the people they can otherize to good effect, the people they can make the majority agree to hurt.

In a different but simultaneous campaign, they are also raising panic about the growing demographic power of people of color. Of course, the right wing is continuing to target lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer people, but the latter have more allies than trans people currently do, so trans and non-binary people make the more appealing target.

It is incumbent on all of us to stand up and fight the attempt to demonize all these beautiful, strong, and supremely valuable members of our community, and not let the right wing pick us off one by one like this. When we agree to protect all of us, we refuse to let them target and hurt a single member of our community. Thank you.

City of Beacon’s Human Rights Commission’s Community Pledge

We believe that communities are made safer for all residents and visitors when every community member - regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, nationality, preferred language, immigration status, age, disability, education or socio-economic status - feels comfortable and safe residing, living, working and/or visiting the City of Beacon.

• Every community member has the right to live, work or visit in our community without fear of violence or attack.

• Every community member should be able to live, work or visit in conditions of safety, security and dignity.

• Every neighborhood and area of the City of Beacon should be a protected space of community members to live, work and fulfill their potential.

As a member of our Beacon community, we uphold the above to be true and pledge to:

• Come out as an ally, by creating welcoming and affirming spaces for all members of our Beacon community.

• Stand up in response to acts that violate an individual's rights to live, work or visit in our community without fear of violence or attack.

All members of the Beacon community including organizations, businesses, and individuals are invited to join us in the commitment by signing their names. Visit www.bit.ly/hrcpledge.com