Surrey's mayor has declared June as “2SLGBTQ+ (Rainbow Community) Pride Month."
Surrey City Hall plans to raise the Pride flag for the third consecutive year as a celebration of the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
"The Pride Flag is a symbol of diversity, acknowledged worldwide as a beacon of equality for all," reads the proclamation. "The City of Surrey is actively involved in embracing its true diversity and for the first time (in 2023) raises the Pride Flag on city property in recognition and acknowledgment of the struggles of the Rainbow Community over the past decades."
The city flew the flag after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida in 2016, said former Surrey Pride president Martin Rooney in a previous interview. In 2016, Surrey council voted unanimously to fly the Pride flag at city hall in “solidarity, sympathy and support for the LGBTQ community following the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida,” Rooney said in a previous interview.
Surrey Pride Society works to create safe spaces for the 2SLGBTQ+ community in Surrey and to ensure they have full and equal rights.
"There is no room in our city for homophobia, transphobia, dragphobia or any kind of hate towards marginalized peoples, Indigenous peoples, people of colour and other minorities," reads the proclamation.
On Saturday, June 28, Surrey Pride is hosting its 26th annual Surrey Pride Festival from noon to 7 p.m. at Civic Plaza (13450 104 Ave).
Admission is free at the family-friendly event, to include vendors, speeches, dance and good vibes on the plaza outside Surrey City Hall. The schedule and other festival details are posted on surreypride.ca/surrey-pride-2025.
The pride flag will be raised underneath the City of Surrey flag on June 23. The city will also illuminate Civic Plaza in rainbow colours from June 22 to 28.
The month of June is significant in the 2SLGBTQ+ communities.
Pride is often celebrated worldwide in June to celebrate the 2SLGBTQ+ community and commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, which started when police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City, on June 27, 1960.
"Historically, Pride gatherings emerged from the first large-scale protests for 2SLGBTQI+ rights. In Canada, the first demonstrations took place in Ottawa and Vancouver in 1971," noted the Government of Canada.
In Ottawa on Monday (June 9), Prime Minister Mark Carney, alongside Members of Parliament and the community, raised the Pride flag on Parliament Hill to mark the start of Pride season.
"Pride Season is a term that refers to the wide range of Pride events that take place over the summer (June to September) when 2SLGBTQI+ communities and allies come together to spotlight the resilience, celebrate the talent, and recognize the contributions of 2SLGBTQI+ communities," noted on the Government of Canada website.
Happy Pride, Canada. pic.twitter.com/jE8MP9EiWL
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) June 10, 2025
