Dozens of people dressed in vibrant colors gathered on the steps of Queens Borough Hall on Tuesday, June 3, for a flag-raising ceremony to mark the beginning of LGBTQ+ Pride Month. The event served as both a celebration and a powerful statement of visibility and resistance, aligning with this year’s Queens Pride theme: Defiant Joy.
The celebration began with an energetic performance by Gotham Cheer, a nonprofit cheerleading group that supports marginalized communities, including LGBTQIA+ individuals, unhoused populations and underserved youth.
The event, hosted by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr., included remarks from Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas, Council Member Lynn Schulman, and community leaders and activists, all emphasizing solidarity, identity, and the ongoing fight for LGBTQ+ equality.
“While we celebrate, we also recognize why we gather today,” Richards said. “This kickoff isn’t just a ceremony—it is a statement that here in Queens, we will always stand up for our LGBTQ+ community. Harmful rhetoric and dangerous legislation continue to target LGBTQ+ families across the country. But let me be clear: diversity is our strength, and inclusion is both our past and our future. We will not be silent, and we will not go backwards.”
Gonzalez-Rojas alluded to how the Queens Pride Parade held last Sunday, June 1st, was a reminder of the origins of Pride, which was birthed from the Stonewall Uprising of 1969. “It was a reminder that Pride is a fight and a struggle for liberation for the LGBTQ communities,” she said. Gonzalez-Rojas also drew focus to the story of Andry Hernandez Romero, a gay makeup artist and Venezuelan asylum seeker who, in March, was detained by ICE and sent to the El Salvadorian maximum security prison CECOT.
“Pride was not just a celebration, it was a call to action for our LGBTQ immigrants, who continue to be persecuted in the state, in the city, and in the country. But here in Queens, we will not stand for that. We are standing here proud, and we are standing here defiant. Our theme is defiant joy, because they can’t take away our joy,” Gonzalez-Rojas said.
Schulman briefly shared her personal story as a member of the LGBTQ+ community and the intersectionality of her identity and political background. “I am out, I am an out lesbian, and I am proud, and I am a representative in the city council. There aren’t many of us, but we’re there,” she said. “We matter, representation matters…I see every single one of you. If somebody doesn’t see you, just know you are seen by us.”
Leaders in the LGBTQ+ community, spanning from different backgrounds including community health, nonprofits, and education, also spoke at Tuesday’s events.
Robert Vitelli, CEO of the LGBT Network, underscored the importance of the LGBTQ+ community continuing to be united and visible.
“We need to show that we exist because people are telling us that we don’t exist, and we need to continue to be visible,” Vitelli said. “It’s not just for the people who are here, it’s for the people, those kids, who are not out, for those adults, those older adults who are not out yet, because we know here the fear that can control us. But that’s the power in what we do every single day, all of us collectively, to make sure that people know they are not alone.”
Diego Then, president of the Gender, Love and Sexuality Alliance (GLASA) at Queens College, shared how students of LGBTQ+ backgrounds are finding community on the college campus.
The college senior said that the LGBTQ+ on-campus community rallied together to advocate for a new Pride center at Queens College. “This center will not only serve students, but will stand as a testament to what we can achieve when we work together to foster inclusion and understanding,” he said.
Then recalled how he felt in his transition to college, and how he searched for a supportive community. “This is precisely why queer organizations on college campuses are not just important, they are vital, they are life lines,” he said. Then, described organizaitons such as GLASA as a sanctuary, fostering a deep sense of belonging, often for the first time for many of these students. “For so many, these campus groups allow [students] to truly authentically be themselves,” he said.
Dr. Sundeep Singh Boparai, a healthcare administrator at Northwell Health, underscored that many who live in visibility are a voice for the voiceless.
Singh Boparai, a self-described queer Sihk and proud Queens native, said that he speaks for all who never get the chance to. “I speak for every trans youth fighting to exist, every queer elder who paved a path with their pain, and every intersectional soul still seeking sanctuary,” he said.
Singh Boparai underscored the running theme of defiant joy.
“Let’s be clear, our visibility is not vanity, it is resistance. In a time where our very identities are under legislative attack, when healthcare is stripped away from our transgender siblings, when books are being banned when queer and trans people are being written out of curriculums and policies, raising this flag is an act of defiance,” he said.
“This isn’t just a flag, it’s a symbol of sacred truth, it’s our battle cry and our beacon. It tells the world we are here, we have always been here, and we are not going anywhere,” Singh Boparai said.
