“Every single American — gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, transgender — every single American deserves to be treated equally in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of our society. It’s a pretty simple proposition.” — former President Barack Obama
As two gray, straight white guys who grew up on different sides of the Reagan ’80s, David Snyder and I might have been judged an odd couple to show up at Sunday’s Pride flag raising at Scranton City Hall.
As it turned out, no one judged us at all. We were welcomed with open arms and warm smiles, just as I expected. David didn’t know what to expect, which is mostly why I invited him.
Regular readers know David is a reformed Trump voter who left the Republican Party after the Jan. 6 domestic terrorist attack on the Capitol. Reagan was the first president he voted for and he spent most of his adult life as a Constitutional conservative whose world view was warped by years of consuming Fox “News” and other right-wing propaganda.
In the aftermath of Trump’s failed coup, David and I met for coffee and instantly found common ground as fellow Americans who share more core values than political differences. We became fast friends and have learned a lot from each other. As Bob Dylan so eloquently opined, “We always did feel the same/We just saw it from a different point of view.”
I enjoy David’s company in any setting, but I also value his perspective on experiencing events like Sunday’s gathering. For most of his life, a Pride flag raising was the last place you’d bump into him. I thought of inviting David based on his reply to a Facebook meme I shared. Its message:
“Things people do not choose: Sexual orientation; gender identity; appearance; disability; mental illness; race.
“Things people do choose: To be a (bleep) to people over things they can’t control.”
David’s reply: “This is probably one of the most important things I’ve learned since I’ve pulled back from hardcore Republicanism to a more moderate, right-of-center Independent.”
As we strolled toward City Hall, the moderate, right-of-center independent lamented the “bill of goods” he and other conservatives were sold about the LGBTQ community.
“People who ask, ‘Why is there a ceremony for ‘that flag?,’ either don’t understand the history or just refuse to acknowledge it,” he said. “From the beginning of American history, this group of people had to hide who they were inside to serve in the military, to have a job or a church to worship in — really just to survive.
“I was always told, ‘Those people enjoy the same rights as everyone else.’ On paper, maybe, but in reality, it just wasn’t true.”
When David and I were in high school, being openly queer was dangerous for our peers and “gay” was widely accepted as synonymous with anything perceived as abnormal and undesirable. Sticking up for any classmate’s right to be queer was social suicide.
Society and government have made great strides forward since, but the Trump regime and its minions in right-wing media and the MAGA base are working overtime to erase that progress. The crowd at Sunday’s eighth annual Pride flag raising showed strong, timely support for the LGBTQ community and the urgent importance of raising “that flag.”
Former Sen. Bob Casey was there, along with Democratic state Reps. Bridget Kosierowski, Kyle Donahue and Jim Haddock, state Sen. Marty Flynn and city Councilman Sean McAndrew. The mood was jubilant. It was a blessed, sunbaked break from the darkness that dominates the daily headlines. It was an honest-to-God celebration of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Pointing to Scranton’s rich and ever-expanding tradition of ethnic and cultural festivals from the St. Patrick’s Parade and La Festa Italiana to the Bhutanese Dih-Sain Teehar festival and Black Scranton Project’s Juneteenth Jubilee Block Party, Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti praised what many said was the Pride flag raising’s largest turnout ever.
“We’ve been able to see every single year more and more people want to celebrate their community, share their culture, their way of life with us in the city of Scranton and really anchor Scranton as the beating heart of Northeast Pennsylvania, where people know that they can come and feel welcome no matter who they are, who they love,” she told the joyful crowd of about 100.
“So it is with just an enormous sense of pride for me as mayor to be able to stand here with you guys on days like this.”
Jessica Rothchild, the first openly gay member of Scranton City Council, was there with her lovely wife and their two young children.
“When I’m thinking about this month … I think about how to talk about it with our kids and especially our daughter, who’s 5 now and can understand a bit more,” she said.
“Recently I was explaining to her why we’re having this flag raising, why we have Pride Month. What I told her was that our family is a little unique. A lot of her friends at preschool, they have a mom and dad and she has two moms, so that seems a little different to them, and we are actually part of a whole beautiful community known as the LGBTQ community. And this is really an important month to us and a chance for us to celebrate that community and who we are.”
If only all alleged adults could embrace this basic message as readily as the half-dozen happy children decorating the City Hall steps with rainbow chalk as the Pride flag rose toward a beautiful blue sky.
Celebrating Pride Month
Upcoming Pride Month events include a “Show Your Colors Vigil” June 14 (Flag Day) at 3 p.m. on Courthouse Square in Scranton. Organizers said the vigil is intended to send a clear message: “We are here, we belong, and we will not be pushed back into the shadows.”
It’s a pretty simple proposition.
Scranton Family Pride Day will be celebrated June 27 from noon to 4 p.m. at Nay Aug Park in Scranton. The free event will feature rainbow arts and crafts, face-painting, live entertainment, a DJ dance party, food trucks and local vendors.
Organizers say the event represents “Pride Month the way it was always meant to be — for everyone, at every age. Families, friends, neighbors, strangers who become friends — you are ALL welcome here.”
They mean it. Trust a couple of gray, straight white guys who want to be better allies and Americans than they were in the Reagan ’80s.
CHRIS KELLY, the Times-Tribune columnist, wishes you and yours a safe, joyous Pride Month. Contact the writer: ckelly@scrantontimes.com; @cjkink on X; Chris Kelly, The Times-Tribune on Facebook; and @chriskellyink on Bluesky.