By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green Mayor Mike Aspacher recognized the LGBTQI+ community and the significance of Juneteenth during Monday’s City Council meeting.
To promote allyship and advocacy for LGBTQI+ residents in Bowling Green, the Rainbow Pride Flag is being flown at the City Administration Building beginning this week.
Miranda Douglas expressed appreciation to the mayor and city for support of Pride Month.
“LGBTQI+ people are just people,” Douglas said. “We have families. We work. We have feelings and we go through a lot.”
Aspacher read a proclamation in support of the LGBTQI+ community.
“LGBTQI+ Pride refers to a global movement and philosophy asserting that all people, inclusive of their sexualities and gender identities, should be affirmed in their self-worth and dignity, proud of their resilience, and have the right to equity and equality,” the mayor said.
“The City of Bowling Green has a long history of inclusiveness and welcoming and is fortunate to be a diverse community, including LGBTQI+ residents,” the proclamation reads.
The city celebrates this diversity through Not In Our Town and the Human Relations Commission – two organizations working to promote equity, equality, inclusiveness, and understanding of all people, Aspacher said.
“Bowling Green has taken a proactive stance on enacting laws that protect against discrimination (Chapter 39 of the Bowling Green Codified Ordinances) as well as passing resolutions condemning violence, hate speech and proclaiming our community as safe and welcoming for all,” the mayor said.
June is national Pride Month, commemorating the Stonewall Riot and ensuing events that occurred in New York City in 1969 that are believed to be the beginning of the LGBTQI+ liberation movement in the U.S.
“Therefore, I, Mike Aspacher, mayor of the City of Bowling Green, do hereby proclaim June, 2022, as LGBTQI+ Pride Month in this municipality and encourage all residents to promote allyship with and advocacy for our LGBTQI+ neighbors to live out the Human Relations Commission and NIOT ideals of celebrating diversity and welcoming all, inclusive of their sexualities and gender identities.”
Aspacher also read a proclamation recognizing the significance of Juneteenth. He proclaimed June 19 as Juneteenth in the city and urged “all citizens to become more aware of the significance of this celebration in African-American History and in the heritage of our nation and city.”
President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, declaring the enslaved people in Confederate territory free, paving the way for the passing of the 13th Amendment which formally abolished slavery in the U.S
However, word of the Emancipation Proclamation was delayed two and a half years, to June 19, 1865, in reaching authorities and African Americans in the South and Southwestern U.S.
“Juneteenth” has been celebrated by the African American community for over 150 years – and the City of Bowling Green pledges to celebrate the culture that exists therein, the proclamation states.
This year’s Juneteenth celebration in Bowling Green will be hosted by BRAVE (Black Rights Activism Visibility and Equity) at Wooster Green on June 18.
Lindsay Durham thanked the mayor for recognizing Juneteenth.
“I believe it is paramount to celebrate the day when all became free,” Durham said.
Durham and Chris Douglas, members of BRAVE, invited the community to join the Juneteenth celebration on June 18 from 2 to 8 p.m., on Wooster Green.
