CINCINNATI — City Hall’s preparations for Pride Month are in full swing. On Wednesday, city council passed an ordinance to fly the rainbow flag in front of City Hall for the month of June to commemorate the LBGTQ community.
The flag that will be raised during a ceremony to kick off Pride Month on June 1. City Council Member Reggie Harris, one of the key supporters of the ordinance, says flying the rainbow flag is about pushing for inclusion in the city.
"It is really important as a city in an official's capacity to acknowledge people who have been traditionally oppressed and marginalized, to celebrate them and to do that in an official way."
Harris went on to say that this is especially important because the city has some catching up to do in advocating for the needs of the LGBTQIA community.
"Even though Cincinnati has made significant strides in LGBTQ equality such as Article 12 back in 2004, it was only in 2019 that we first raised the pride flag."
The flag is being donated by the city's newly established groups mandated to support to the LBGTQ community. One of those groups is City Pride, as well as another support group for the city's workers.
However, the city says it's not stopping at symbolic gestures like flying the pride flag. Harris says locals can also expect legislation aimed at updating the city's non-discrimination code to provide more current language for diverse gender identities and expression.
“We just want to make sure that we are in line with state and national's best practices so that we can continue to be best in class in our non-discrimination codes.”
He says his office will be presenting that legislation in the upcoming weeks.
Monique John covers gentrification for WCPO 9. She is part of our Report For America donor-supported journalism program. Read more about RFA here.
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