The rainbow flag is flying outside Windsor City Hall as part of the kick off to the 33rd annual Windsor-Essex Pride Fest.
The flag was raised during a ceremony Friday that included Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens, Windsor West New Democrat MPP Lisa Gretzky, Windsor-Tecumseh Conservative MPP Andrew Dowie, Windsor West Conservative MP Harb Gill, and Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore MPP Kathy Borelli.
The raising of the flag is the official beginning of Windsor-Essex Pride Fest, a two-week celebration of the local 2SLGBTQIA community.
President of Windsor-Essex Pride Fest Wendi Nicholson says everyone seems to want to put labels on things, and unfortunately, the 2SLGBTQIA community gets most of them.
"A lot of times they are derogatory; we really don't care for them. Sometimes it's our own people putting labels on things. Let's get rid of them," she says. "Be who you are, love who you love, and let's just scrap the labels."
Nicholson says the message of equality and pride is worth delivering.
"In the 40-plus years that I've been out, I don't think there is a day that I said, 'Why am I doing this? Life would be so much easier if...'. I've never wavered on that," she says.
A ceremony at Windsor City Hall to raise the rainbow flag to help kick off the 33rd annual Windsor-Essex Pride Fest. pic.twitter.com/t39gZq0sJV
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Nicholson says it means so much to her when the flag is raised.
"It's the amount of people that come out every year for our flag, and it's not just people from the 2SLGBTQIA community. It's the allies; it's the sponsors that are allies," she says.
Pride Fest events will be held at various locations throughout Windsor-Essex, but from August 8-10, the main festival will be at Lanspeary Park on Ottawa Street.
The annual Pride Fest parade is scheduled for 11 a.m. on August 10, beginning at Lanspeary Park.
Click here to find more information on the festivities.