JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The rainbow-colored Pride flag flew over Jacksonville City Hall for the first time ever when Mayor Donna Deegan proclaimed June as LGBTQ+ Pride Month.
Deegan is the first Jacksonville mayor to issue a Pride Month proclamation, just as she was the first mayor to attend the Jax River City Pride Parade when she was its grand marshal last year.
"It is with immense pride and joy that I stand before you today to celebrate the city's first official Pride Month event," Deegan said to a crowd gathered in City Hall's rotunda. "I can promise you it won't be the last."
Deegan recognized the late Tommy Hazouri, the former mayor and City Council member, for rallying support among council members when they voted in February 2017 to expand the city's human rights ordinance so it protects LGBT people from discrimination in the fields of housing, employment and public accommodations.
"I know he's looking down upon us today and smiling," Deegan said of Hazouri, who was her cousin.
She said Hazouri always had a Pride flag in the window of his City Hall office during the month of June.
"So in that spirit and in his honor, a Pride flag is waving proudly on the City Hall roof today," she said.
The city flew the flag atop a flagpole on the southeast corner of the roof facing James Weldon Johnson Park.
Earlier this year, the Florida Legislation considered but did not approve a bill (HB 901/SB 11) that would have blocked local governments from displaying any flag that represents "a political viewpoint, including, but not limited to, a politically partisan, racial, sexual orientation and gender, or political ideology viewpoint."
Critics said the bill was aimed at stopping display of the Pride flag on government buildings. The bill died in committee and cities like Jacksonville still have the ability to fly the Pride flag.
At the City Hall event when Deegan issued the proclamation, Dan Merkan of the North Florida AIDS Network said he never expected to see it happen in Jacksonville. Merkan was a leader of the community coalition that fought for expansion of the human rights ordinance.
"Having worked at this for 25 years, it's so great we've reached this place and time," he said.
Deegan said the city has "much more work to do" and noted Jacksonville scores lower than other big Florida cities on the Human Rights Campaign scorecard for municipal laws and programs supporting LGBTQ people. Jacksonville scored 76 out of 100 in the 2023 scorecard. Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale all had perfect scores of 100.
She announced the creation of an LGBTQ advisory board that she said will be a liaison with her office and City Council. The board will issue an annual report with recommendations. Deegan created the board with an executive order.
"I really feel a connection to the LGBTQ community because we both believe in the power of love," Deegan said. "For the community, love is love, and love will always win are the themes that drive you forward. I feel those words with all my heart, mind and soul."