North Hempstead to raise Pride flag for all of June — one year after clash over how long it should fly
After a ceremony, the Pride flag flies outside North Hempstead Town Hall in Manhasset on Wednesday. Credit: Jeff Bachner
North Hempstead officials watched with smiles on Wednesday evening as an LGBTQ+ advocate raised the Pride flag high above Town Hall in Manhasset.
The town will keep the flag raised for the rest of the month, Supervisor Jennifer DeSena confirmed in an interview.
A year ago, North Hempstead officials had planned to fly the flag for just a few days. The move would break a three-year tradition of keeping it up for the majority of the month following the ceremonial raising before the town's first June board meeting. But the town reversed course after some backlash and kept the flag raised for the rest of the month. June is Pride month, which recognizes and celebrates the LGBTQ+ community.
“It is a message that we support everyone, we respect everyone, and so I’m glad that we can help with that message,” DeSena said. “For me, on a personal level, anything I can do to make someone feel prouder and confident and welcomed, is important.”
The town last year tried to establish a “flag raising protocol,” town spokesman Umberto Mignardi told Newsday at the time. The plan was to fly all flags — other than U.S. and POW/MIA flags, which fly year-round — no more than 48 hours. It was part of an effort, Mignardi said, to “call attention to each cause without showing any partiality.”
The decision triggered rebukes from North Hempstead residents and Democrats on the town council.
“The custom is normally you fly the flag a few days and then you take it down,” DeSena said. “Last year we made an effort among the town board to standardize this. But it was important to people we fly it for the whole month, so we did and we will again.”
Rachel Fox, a board member for Be the Rainbow, a Port Washington-based nonprofit dedicated to increasing visibility for the LGBTQ+ community, raised the flag before Wednesday's town board meeting.
"Raising the flag is more than a symbolic gesture, it's a powerful act of inclusion," Fox said during a news conference before the flag raising. "It's a way to show every LGBTQ+ person in this town, especially our young people, that you are seen, you are heard, you are valued and you belong here."
Laura Mogul, executive director of the Landmark on Main Street theater in Port Washington, said in an interview it's important for the flag to fly for more than a few days.
"You want as many people [as possible] to participate and become allies," Mogul said. "You need to make the statement and not hide from it ... It's Pride month, it's not Pride day, so you need to honor that."
David Kilmnick, president of the Long Island LGBT Network, said in an interview he was involved in the effort to persuade the town to reverse its decision last year.
"Efforts to minimize or restrict the flag's presence often come cloaked in neutrality, but they function to diminish marginalized voices," Kilmnick said. "Reversals like theirs show the power of our community to organize and how advocacy works."
Kilmnick said raising the flag is even more salient this year given the political climate. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hesgeth ordered the removal of the name of gay rights activist Harvey Milk — a Long Island native — from a U.S. Navy ship earlier this week. Milk was born in Woodmere and graduated from Bay Shore High School.
"Especially now, when LGBTQ+ rights are under attack across the country. ... visible signs of support like the Pride flag are not optional," Kilmnick said. "They are urgent."
North Hempstead officials watched with smiles on Wednesday evening as an LGBTQ+ advocate raised the Pride flag high above Town Hall in Manhasset.
The town will keep the flag raised for the rest of the month, Supervisor Jennifer DeSena confirmed in an interview.
A year ago, North Hempstead officials had planned to fly the flag for just a few days. The move would break a three-year tradition of keeping it up for the majority of the month following the ceremonial raising before the town's first June board meeting. But the town reversed course after some backlash and kept the flag raised for the rest of the month. June is Pride month, which recognizes and celebrates the LGBTQ+ community.
“It is a message that we support everyone, we respect everyone, and so I’m glad that we can help with that message,” DeSena said. “For me, on a personal level, anything I can do to make someone feel prouder and confident and welcomed, is important.”
The town last year tried to establish a “flag raising protocol,” town spokesman Umberto Mignardi told Newsday at the time. The plan was to fly all flags — other than U.S. and POW/MIA flags, which fly year-round — no more than 48 hours. It was part of an effort, Mignardi said, to “call attention to each cause without showing any partiality.”
The decision triggered rebukes from North Hempstead residents and Democrats on the town council.
“The custom is normally you fly the flag a few days and then you take it down,” DeSena said. “Last year we made an effort among the town board to standardize this. But it was important to people we fly it for the whole month, so we did and we will again.”
Rachel Fox, a board member for Be the Rainbow, a Port Washington-based nonprofit dedicated to increasing visibility for the LGBTQ+ community, raised the flag before Wednesday's town board meeting.
"Raising the flag is more than a symbolic gesture, it's a powerful act of inclusion," Fox said during a news conference before the flag raising. "It's a way to show every LGBTQ+ person in this town, especially our young people, that you are seen, you are heard, you are valued and you belong here."
Laura Mogul, executive director of the Landmark on Main Street theater in Port Washington, said in an interview it's important for the flag to fly for more than a few days.
"You want as many people [as possible] to participate and become allies," Mogul said. "You need to make the statement and not hide from it ... It's Pride month, it's not Pride day, so you need to honor that."
David Kilmnick, president of the Long Island LGBT Network, said in an interview he was involved in the effort to persuade the town to reverse its decision last year.
"Efforts to minimize or restrict the flag's presence often come cloaked in neutrality, but they function to diminish marginalized voices," Kilmnick said. "Reversals like theirs show the power of our community to organize and how advocacy works."
Kilmnick said raising the flag is even more salient this year given the political climate. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hesgeth ordered the removal of the name of gay rights activist Harvey Milk — a Long Island native — from a U.S. Navy ship earlier this week. Milk was born in Woodmere and graduated from Bay Shore High School.
"Especially now, when LGBTQ+ rights are under attack across the country. ... visible signs of support like the Pride flag are not optional," Kilmnick said. "They are urgent."
Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.
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