Bay Ridge, Will You Hang A Rainbow Flag?
Last Summer, a group called GayRidge made an Instagram account. (See here)
Something they wrote stayed with me all year.
The GayRidge social media account explained that they counted all of the rainbow flags displayed at businesses on 3rd Avenue during Pride Month last June.
Out of the 431 storefronts on 3rd Avenue from 68th Street to 100th Street, only three businesses displayed a flag for Pride Month (Matter, Hom and Harp).
That’s Less than 3/4 of 1% of the businesses. (See here)
They shared this picture:
GayRidge offered to bring Bay Ridge businesses a sticks of a rainbow for their window. Some businesses accepted the offer. (See here)
How many preteens and teens who are part of the LGBT community (or questioning) are wondering why there are so few pride flags in Bay Ridge? The rest of NYC is covered with rainbow flags in June.
Life is not easy for many LGBTQ teens. And the pandemic has been especially hard on these teens. “LGBTQ students are twice as likely to have considered or attempted suicide during the pandemic,” said the CDC. (Source)
I went to Amazon and found a 3×5 rainbow flag for $5.85 (this one) (with tax – $6.37)
I’m sharing what we are doing because there are a lot of flag-type people in Bay Ridge, who would gladly put up a rainbow for the month of June to send out some love to people in our community.
If are a business owner on 3rd or 5th Avenue, please put up a flag for kids, families and your customers.
If you don’t have room for a flag, you could always do some rainbow hearts – see here
Amazon also has a pack of 50 small rainbow flags for $13.99 – in case you need a lot (See here) In the reviews, there are pictures so you can see the size of them.
Finally, I leave you with this picture that a son received from his father after the father hung a flag on his store window and asked his son if was hung correctly. The son is part of the LGBTQ community and his father’s message of love was clear.
A little flag can send a big message of support.
If you are a member of GayRidge, I’m sorry you had to count all of the businesses last year, but I am glad you did and shared it.
.
Hugs,
marlene
Topics: Bay Ridge | 2 Comments »
May 17th, 2022 at 7:58 pm
I marched for gay rights at Bryant Park when I was 17 years old in the 1970s.
I lived in San Francisco in the 1980s when I lost many friends to AIDS.
I worked hard to combat AIDS.
The only flag I fly now is the flag of Ukraine.
The tyranny is happening in Ukraine. Why not join together in that pursuit?
May 17th, 2022 at 8:09 pm
Mags,
The travesty that has happened in Ukraine happened as world leaders watched. There was time to help Zelensky, but other countries offered minimal support and wouldn’t fight Russia.
Sorry Mags, I can’t do anything in Brooklyn to help on this issue.