On Monday evening the Marlborough Town Board voted to reaffirm their support for the LGBTQ+ community and for June as Pride Month. For the past two years Marlborough has flown the Pride Flag at town hall.

Supervisor Scott Corcoran said the town is committed to supporting the LGBTQ+ community.

“I don’t like to listen to people on social media and there have been some things in the paper but just know that this board does support everyone and that’s a good thing,” he said.

Joe Caserto recalled that 2023 is now the eighth time the town has voiced their support for the LGBTQ+ community. He noted that, “The Human Rights Coalition just declared a state of emergency against LGBTQ+ people in the United States because of the unprecedented attacks, trans kids are killing themselves, they’re being murdered and books and health care are being banned. So for Marlborough, which I grew up in and was not very tolerant, to formally declare June as Pride Month speaks volumes. It sends a clear message to people that hate will not be tolerated in this town and that there are allies. It’s not just about flying the flag but it’s about standing up for the people you love. It’s about making sure you’re voting to not restrict rights from your neighbors and people you love.”

Caserto noted that June 12 was the seventh anniversary of the shooting at The Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. where a 29 year-old man shot and killed 49 people and wounded 53 more. Caserto said, “they just wanted to have a safe space to dance and have fun.”

Caserto said seeing the Pride Flag fly at the Marlborough town hall, “I think sends a message that hate has no place here.”

Cindy Lanzetta described to the Town Board growing up in a Midwestern town, “where black people were not encouraged to settle, Italians were considered gangsters and mobsters and Catholics, you can’t trust them because they were working for the Pope and the worst thing you could call somebody was a faggot.”

Lanzetta said, “I realize that these prejudices are not only wrong, they’re very hurtful. I am very proud to be in a community that is making an effort to reach out and appreciate our diverse community, so I want to thank you all for continuing to recognize Pride Month.”

Tim Lawton said the town’s support of his community, “for me, is a continuation of at least a public statement in support of Pride Month.” He noted that this month is to show support for LGBTQ Queer people, “because gay Americans must identify themselves if they want to exist in public as their true self.”

Lawton said, “presently there are more than 500 pieces of legislation in states that are trying to implement about who we are and what we can do.” He also noted that book banning across the United States is being led by a very small number of people.

“I mean tens of people are attacking books in libraries all over the country but it is not the majority,” he said.

Lawton came back to his hometown.

“I think as a gay and queer community we’ve made huge inroads and we’ve made ourselves well known,” he said. “I think there are a lot of people who are fully supportive of gay and queer culture, but I just don’t think that there’s a lot of people standing up and saying we need to recognize this, we need to make this part of our everyday lives.”

Lawton said the gay community has always “been around, and the 2000 census finally reported there was at least one gay household in every county in every state in the United States.

“I am just happy that I can stand up in Marlborough and I can speak and I can be heard and not get jeered to my face,” he said. “I think we’re very fortunate to live in the northeast [and] for the most part, it’s an area of the country that at least we have a foothold and we have strength and we have support.”