by Sylene Argent, Local Journalism Initiative
For the fourth year in a row, St. Paul's Anglican Church welcomed community members around the flagpole at the Essex Municipal Building on Wednesday afternoon to participate in an event aimed at promoting inclusion.
This event was held in celebration of the Windsor Essex Pride Festival taking place.
In Essex, it is important to ensure inclusion thrives, Essex Mayor Sherry Bondy said, adding Council is working hard to make sure Essex is a safe and welcoming community.
"This flag is a symbol that this is a place where everyone belongs," Bondy added, who was joined by Deputy Mayor Rob Shepley and Councillor Brad Allard at the event, in addition to a few members of Town staff.
She was thrilled to see the turnout at the event, noting no doubt it was the largest to date.
"Each one gets bigger and bigger."
Hosting the Pride Flag raising was the idea of Jaye Lacerte. Before the inaugural event was held, she was new to the area and reached out to the Town of Essex to see what was being done to recognize the LGBTQ community.
Her daughter identifies with the community, and she wanted a way for the community to show support to inclusion.
"It is important my daughter lives in a community where she feels accepted," Lacerte said.
She was told no events were held locally, but it was suggested she could organize a flag raising.
That's when she contacted St. Paul's Anglican Church, which was happy to get involved.
Member of St. Paul's and head of Rainbow Allyship Sydney Brouillard-Coyle spoke about the Pride Flag being a symbol of hope, progress, and solidarity, and how each step has a different colour to represent something specific.
Before the flag raising, members of Windsor-Essex Community Arts Project (WECAP) sang a song expressing the importance of all individuals being valued and loved.
Reverend Chris Brouillard-Coyle invited everyone back to St. Paul's for a barbecue and lawn games to continue the celebration.
There, a raffle was hosted, which Reverend Brouillard-Coyle hoped proceeds would support adding an inclusion-themed mural in Essex in the near future.