SUMMER OF PRIDE CELEBRATION & RAINBOW FLAG FESTOONING OF LAGUNA BEACH

While the rainbow flag truly represents diversity and equality of all “colors,” more recently, it has been vilified as a symbol of perversion, pedophilia, and promoting activities against nature while assailing religious doctrine and beliefs.

Recently, Huntington Beach legislated a ban on rainbow flags being displayed at any city office, on city property, or at any city-sponsored event. During the recent USA congressional budget bill that passed, a last-minute addendum was attached that forbids the rainbow flag from being displayed on any state office building worldwide. No longer will our embassies be allowed to raise the rainbow flag as a message to other nations of the USA’s support of diversity and equality for all citizens. In Russia, with an estimated LGBTQ population of 7.1 M, the rainbow flag has recently been fully criminalized and declared as extremist propaganda. Under Russian criminal law, a person found guilty of displaying extremist group symbols, AKA rainbows of all kinds, faces up to 15 days in detention for the first offense and up to four years in prison for a repeat offense. A Russian woman was recently sentenced to five days in jail for wearing rainbow earrings. Most all LBGTQ+ venues are closing, and LGBTQ+ organizations and social groups are abandoning their causes due to the new laws and the harassment and terrorism they embolden.

In other nations, you can face execution for being LGBTQ, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, Brunei, Nigeria, and Mauritania. In 68 nations, being LGBTQ is illegal, with various levels of fines and imprisonment.

Thinking globally and acting locally…

With a Rainbow Flag and Summer of Pride Celebration, Laguna Beach Pride 365 speaks up with a message that diversity and equality are basic human rights and matter for everyone. Starting at 1 PM and continuing to 4 PM on May 31st, on the eve of June Pride Month, we will gather at the west end of the Forest Street Promenade, where we will organize and distribute rainbow flags to anyone from local businesses, residences, to individuals. From 4 PM until 7 PM, we will take the celebration to the Susi Q Community Center patio-veranda with entertainment, beverages, and lite bites, a $15 donation is suggested. The next day, June 1st, the City of Laguna Beach will raise the rainbow flag in front of City Hall as they have done for the last 5+ years and where it will proudly fly for the next 30 days.