The Japantown Rainbow Coalition will hold a flag raising ceremony in San Francisco Japantown's Peace Plaza starting at noon on Saturday, June 4. The program, emceed by Nick Large, will feature a performance by Jiten Taiko and speakers including Amy Sueyoshi, dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at San Francisco State University. The ceremony commemorates the raising of the Progress Pride flag on the Peace Plaza from June 3 through June 6 to celebrate Queer and Trans Asian Pacific Islander Week and Pride month. The Japantown Rainbow Coalition is a group of Japantown community members organizing to raise the Pride Flag. The group and project is sponsored by the San Francisco Chapter of the JACL with community support from the Berkeley Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League, Omusubi, and the San Francisco Buddhist Church.

The purpose of the project is to raise awareness of and show support for LGBTQ+ identities within S.F. Japantown as well as for the larger LGBTQ+ community in San Francisco and beyond. San Francisco has long been known as an epicenter for LGBTQ+ rights and celebration, especially during the month of June, Pride Month. The City has a rich history of LGBTQ+ activism and we hope to continue that tradition and highlight the often hidden history of LGBTQ+ communities and people in Japantown. For example, it was in 1954 that the Japantown YMCA hosted the very first convention of the Mattachine Society, one of the earliest gay liberation organizations. In fact, the YMCA holds the designation of being the fourth property on the West Coast listed on the National Register of Historic Places for LGBTQ significance.

For more information contact sfjacl@yahoo.com.