Pride Month In Montclair: Flag Raising, ‘LGBTQ Equality Agenda’

MONTCLAIR, NJ — When Peter Yacobellis was younger and trying to escape being bullied and marginalized, he could always find comfort when he saw a rainbow flag outside a building. “It meant that I was safe and welcome,” explains Yacobellis, Montclair’s first openly LGBTQ elected official.

And that’s just one reason the township will be holding a milestone flag-raising ceremony on Friday, June 4.

The public ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. at Montclair Town Hall, 205 Claremont Avenue. According to a statement from municipal officials, it’s being held to honor Pride Month 2021, is observed in June of each year to honor the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, which served as a catalyst for the gay liberation movement in the United States.

For Yacobellis, it will be a watershed moment.

“I could never have imagined there would be a day when I would raise a pride flag at the seat of power in my hometown,” the councilman said.

“This year, I’m very excited that we’re flying the progress pride flag to broaden that signal of safety and inclusion even further so that our trans and non-binary citizens and LGBTQ people of color may feel even more affirmation in their hometown too,” he added.

According to Yacobellis, the progress pride flag adds a five-color chevron to the classic rainbow flag to represent marginalized LGBTQ+ communities of color, along with the colors pink, light blue and white, which are used on the transgender pride flag.

“Let this be the clearest symbol that all are welcome here,” Yacobellis emphasized.

Mayor Sean Spiller said it’s important for Montclair to celebrate LGBTQ+ culture and support LGBTQ+ rights as a community.

“As we raise the new progress pride flag, we also show our solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement by the inclusion of black and brown stripes to represent diversity and inclusivity, and our support for the trans community with light blue, pink, and white,” Spiller said.

“We want to demonstrate to the world that Montclair is a place where difference and diversity are not simply accepted, but truly embraced by our community,” Spiller said.

MONTCLAIR ‘EQUALITY AGENDA’

Meanwhile, local advocates continue their push to update some township policies and laws during the month of June.

Recently, Yacobellis announced that a new effort dubbed the “Montclair LGBTQ Equality Agenda for 2021” has launched in the township.

It includes two administrative changes recently enacted at the urging of the town’s Municipal Services and Communications Council committee, which consists of council members Yacobellis, Bob Russo and Price Abrams. The changes include:

• Bruce Morgan, the township’s affirmative action officer has been named the township manager’s official liaison to the LGBTQ+ community
• The township’s Equal Employment Opportunity / Affirmative Action Policy was recently updated to enumerate protection for township employees on the basis of gender identity and expression

The Equality Agenda also includes three proposed changes to municipal law, expected to be introduced at council meetings in June:

• A Township Contractor Non-Discrimination Ordinance requiring the inclusion of protection on the basis sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in third party bidding and contracts
• An Employment Non-Discrimination Ordinance prohibiting discrimination in hiring, appointing and assignation of duties and positions on the basis of gender identity or expression (this has previously been codified only on the basis of sexual orientation)
• An Ordinance to Require the Provision of All-Gender Restrooms. The purpose of the ordinance is to establish requirements for the provision of all-gender (unisex) single-occupancy restrooms in all business establishments (including offices and office buildings), places of public accommodation, and municipally owned buildings or facilities in Montclair, together with appropriate signage; where publicly accessible single-occupancy facilities already exist or will be constructed in the future. The ordinance will provide that single-occupancy restrooms that are designated handicapped accessible can also be identified as unisex or all-gender with appropriate signage for both designations, and that there is no requirement that the covered entity or place of public accommodation provide a single-occupancy restroom or make such restroom available to the public unless otherwise required by law. The ordinance will also enable a covered entity to obtain a waiver from the ordinance’s requirements if it documents in writing to the construction official’s satisfaction that compliance with the ordinance would violate or conflict with the State plumbing code or other duly adopted State law. (Note: The Township and Board of Education already practice this for public facilities as a matter of policy. This will codify that in law and include the private sector. There will be some exceptions.)

Advocates are also pushing for a local resolution in support of New Jersey’s A-3371, which bans licensed therapists from using “gay-to-straight” conversion therapy on kids, Yacobellis said.

“Since coming into office, I’ve had deep and thorough conversations with our township staff and my colleagues on the council, and have found the incredible support you would expect to see in Montclair to move this Equality Agenda forward,” Yacobellis said.

“This is also just the beginning,” he added. “In the years ahead, I hope we can offer transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits to town employees and expand on some of our human services to include resources for LGBTQ+ youth, seniors, and the homeless, as well as people living with HIV/AIDS.”

Councilman Russo said it has been a “pleasure” working alongside Yacobellis to advance the agenda.

“I will especially communicate these ideas to my colleagues and students at Montclair State University,” Russo said. “I look forward to supporting this agenda and celebrating Pride Month in Montclair in June.”

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