Pride Month celebrated across the valley

As June 2026 closes so does this year’s Pride Month.

Across Hopewell Valley, the state, and country communities celebrated Pride Month this year with parades, flag raisings, proclamations, and community parties.

In Hopewell Township, Mayor David Chait joined those at Capital Health Medical Center – Hopewell to raise the Pride flag on the Capital Health campus.

During the month, the township held their own annual flag raising ceremony at the township’s municipal building to kick off the month.

Each year, the township’s ceremony is designed to show a commitment to inclusion and acceptance.

The township committee read a proclamation recognizing June as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer + (LGBTQ+) Pride Month following this year’s ceremony.

The proclamation recognized the LGBTQ+ community’s contributions to the township and encouraged all residents to celebrate the diversity of the township community, support efforts to eliminate discrimination, and foster an environment where everyone can live authentically and be safe.

In Hopewell Borough, borough officials, residents, local organizations, and students watched for the first time the raising of the Progress Pride Flag in front of Borough Hall to honor the LGBTQ+ community and reaffirm the borough’s shared commitment to equality and belonging for all people.

Mayor Ryan Kennedy read a proclamation by the borough which also recognized the LGBTQ+ community’s contributions, expressed the borough’s committed support to the community, and urged all borough residents to celebrate diversity and belonging, promote equality and equity, and strive to eliminate prejudice wherever it exists.

In Pennington, the New Jersey Department of Agriculture celebrated Pride Month with a program at Fairgrown Farm in Pennington honoring the contributions of LGBTQ+ community within the field of agriculture.

The program included a panel discussion and farm tour.

Pride Month commemorates civil rights for the LGBTQ+ community.

The first ever Pride marches occurred nationally on June 28 in 1970. They occurred one-year after the 1969 Stonewall riots.

The 1969 Stonewall riots, which Pride Month can trace its roots to, had gone on for several days in 1969 after New York City police officers conducted a raid at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar.

The police department did frequent raids on gay bars during the time period.

The raid at the Stonewall Inn resulted in the people there fighting back against the police department. The riots are seen as the event which ignited the LGBTQ rights movement.