Surrey to raise rainbow flag at City Hall for Pride Month in historic 1st
Cities across Metro Vancouver are raising rainbow flags in solidarity with LGBTQ2S+ communities as June 1 marks the official start of Pride Month—with one city joining in on the annual tradition for the first time ever.
This June marks the first time the Pride flag will be raised outside City Hall in Surrey, though the city has had a pride organization for 24 years.
The president of Surrey Pride Society joined CTV Morning Live on Thursday to talk about the significance of the moment.
“As the second largest city in the province it shows diversity, inclusion and acceptance,” Mooney said, adding the symbolic gesture carries economic benefits as well.
“It will give the perspective that the City of Surrey is open to rainbow community businesses being in operation,” he explained.
Mooney has been an active member of Surrey’s “rainbow” community since Valentine’s Day 1998, when he helped organize the city’s first gay dance.
Pride celebrations began as a protest for equal rights—and this dance was no different.
The event was organized as a fundraiser to help fight attempts by the Surrey School Board to ban books that depicted same-sex parented families, which was ultimately overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada.
The dance planted the seeds for Surrey Pride Society.
“You know, 24 years later you’d think there would be a community centre, a gay bar or whatever, but we’re hoping. We’re working with partners to see if we can achieve that in the next two or three years,” said Mooney.
While he can’t explain exactly why it’s taken so long to have a rainbow flag raised for Pride month in Surrey, Mooney suspects the city’s previous leaders played a large role.
“For the last 15 years or so, we’ve had a very conservative social government and I don’t think that certain people wanted to embrace our community on that level because of the negative feedback they may have received,” said Mooney.
In 2019, when Surrey RCMP raised the rainbow flag in honour of Pride month for the first time, the move was met an angry demonstration outside the detachment’s headquarters.
Four years later, the theme of Surrey’s Pride celebration is “Stronger Together.”
“The reason that theme was chosen was because of all of the hate that’s been occurring in the states and all of the protests that have been occurring across the province,” Mooney explained.
“Marginalized communities, regardless of who they are, become targets. Stronger together means that if every marginalized community comes together, we have more strength, we have more power and we have more diversity.
The month long celebration will culminate with a festival in front of City Hall on June 24.
When asked about the date of the flag raising ceremony, the city said plans are still in the works.
“The City of Surrey is working with Surrey Pride Society on raising the Pride flag as an act of celebration and acceptance this month. More information on this event is forthcoming,” a spokesperson wrote in an email.
“Surrey is a city for everyone. Pride Month is an opportunity to demonstrate that we are inclusive and accepting,” reads the statement.
More information on the festivities can be found online at surreypride.ca.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trudeau appears unwilling to expand proposed rebate, despite pressure to include seniors
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau does not appear willing to budge on his plan to send a $250 rebate to 'hardworking Canadians,' despite pressure from the opposition to give the money to seniors and people who are not able to work.
'Mayday!': New details emerge after Boeing plane makes emergency landing at Mirabel airport
New details suggest that there were communication issues between the pilots of a charter flight and the control tower at Montreal's Mirabel airport when a Boeing 737 made an emergency landing on Wednesday.
Cucumbers sold in Ontario, other provinces recalled over possible salmonella contamination
A U.S. company is recalling cucumbers sold in Ontario and other Canadian provinces due to possible salmonella contamination.
Latest updates: Tracking RSV, influenza, COVID-19 in Canada
As the country heads into the worst time of year for respiratory infections, the Canadian respiratory virus surveillance report tracks how prevalent certain viruses are each week and how the trends are changing week to week.
Weekend weather: Parts of Canada could see up to 50 centimetres of snow, wind chills of -40
Winter is less than a month away, but parts of Canada are already projected to see winter-like weather.
Atlantic hurricane season comes to an end, leaving widespread damage in its wake in U.S.
The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season comes to a close Saturday, bringing to an end a season that saw 11 hurricanes compared to the average seven.
Armed men in speedboats make off with women and children when a migrants' dinghy deflates off Libya
Armed men in two speedboats took off with women and children after a rubber dinghy carrying some 112 migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean Sea started deflating off Libya's coast, a humanitarian aid group said Friday.
Federal government posts $13B deficit in first half of the fiscal year
The Finance Department says the federal deficit was $13 billion between April and September.
W5 Investigates A 'ticking time bomb': Inside Syria's toughest prison holding accused high-ranking ISIS members
In the last of a three-part investigation, W5's Avery Haines was given rare access to a Syrian prison, where thousands of accused high-ranking ISIS members are being held.