A crowd gathered around Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns Tuesday afternoon, standing in the bright spring sunshine as he fastened the rainbow Pride Flag and ran it up the flagpole outside City Hall.

The people cheered.

This would be the sixth consecutive year the City Council declared June to be Pride Month and hoisted the flag.

“Consistent with the city’s strategic goal, becoming, pursuing and advancing a more inclusive community, we are honored to fly the Pride Flag and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community not just throughout the month of June, but throughout the year,” Burns said. “We are committed to accepting all and we fly this flag with extraordinary honor.”

“I’m here just to celebrate all my queer friends in the community,” J.D. Magnuson of Geneva said.

Resident Rani Foard said she thought it was a great thing to do each year.

“I love supporting my sibling and my community,” Rani Foard said.

Her brother, Sunni Foard, spoke at the June 1 City Council meeting, thanking alderpersons for recognizing June 2026 as Pride Month.

“Pride Month is a time to uplift and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and to recognize the hardships, oppression and discrimination they have historically faced,” Foard said. “It commemorates the 1969 Stonewall riots that marked the start of the modern day gay rights movement.”

Police raided a gay bar, the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village on June 28, 1969.

According to the Library of Congress, it was not the first police raid of a gay bar, nor the first time the gay community fought back. But it changed the course of LGBTQ+ activism and the first Pride March was held a year later in New York City.

“Since then, countless trailblazing LGBTQ+ leaders have fought for the acceptance of their community and the injustices that they face,” Sunni Foard said. “During this month, we remember and honor their hard work and sacrifices. It has become an opportunity to celebrate the LGBTQ community. These people are your neighbors, friends, parents, siblings, coworkers, peers and they highlight the beauty of our differences.”

But more importantly, Sunni Foard said, the flag highlights the concepts of love and identity “that make all of us human.”

“Geneva is full of such differences,” Sunni Foard said. “Diversity here is what makes it such a wonderful city. Attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, and in particular the trans community, in the past few years have greatly intensified. And that’s why it’s more important now than ever to be strong in our fight against these injustices.”

Geneva resident Denise Theobald added her thanks for the proclamation.

“It really means a lot to myself and my wife, Julie, who is here tonight,” Theobald said. “We looked long and hard to move here almost six years ago. And when we first came here we weren’t sure. We weren’t sure how well we would be embraced.”

But their neighbors, the friends they made, the community at large and governmental bodies made it clear all are welcome.

“We feel loved, we feel safe. And I hope we can continue that,” Theobald said. “And it’s important for you to take notice and proclaim this Pride Month, raising the flag tomorrow – it means a lot. It means that Geneva is welcoming, all encompassing and that is good for all of us.”

The original rainbow Pride Flag, designed by artist Gilbert Baker, includes six stripes: Red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, blue for harmony and violet for spirit, according to the Unity website www.unity.org.

In 2017, designer Daniel Quazar created the Progress Pride Flag, which includes a left side chevron with black, brown, pink, light blue and white stripes. Black and brown symbolize marginalized communities of color and those living with HIV/AIDS. The pink, light blue and white stripes incorporate the Transgender Pride Flag colors.

The cities of Batavia and St. Charles also raised Pride Flags this week.