MORRIS PLAINS — For 50+ years, the month of June has been nationally recognized as “Pride Month.” On May 19 Morris Plains Mayor Jason Karr and our bipartisan Borough Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting and accepting the month of June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning and Plus (LGBTQ+) “Pride Month.” With this Resolution, Morris Plains joins its neighboring communities of Madison, Morristown, Morris Township, Randolph, and others. It solidifies our town’s commitment to supporting and accepting the many LGBTQ+ residents of our town. As residents of Morris Plains for 23 years, my wife and I couldn’t be prouder of our Mayor and our Council for acknowledging our town’s growing LGBTQ+ community.
Mayor Karr and our Council partnered with the Morris Plains School District and invited middle school students and their families to place Pride banners in front of Borough Hall and at the entrance to our parks. The photographs of these students posing with the banners were priceless! The joy on their faces was infectious. To finally be recognized in the community they call home. Seeing the joyful faces of these children brought me back to the day in 2014 when Mayor Frank Druetzler married my wife and I in Borough Hall. Something as simple as signing a marriage certificate, a rite once reserved only for our heterosexual counterparts, was such a powerful, uplifting moment for us. To finally be included and recognized.
While there has been progress toward acceptance and equality, members of the LGBTQ+ community continue to face discrimination, intolerance, and hate. By recognizing June as Pride Month, Morris Plains lets its LGBTQ+ residents know that their community, the Community of Caring, stands with them to protect their civil rights and their ability to live openly, equally, and without fear. There is no room for hate and discrimination in our town.
So, when you drive through Morris Plains and see the Pride banners in front of Borough Hall or at our parks, think about the pride our LGBTQ+ residents feel in the town they call home. Think about our youth who proudly placed those banners there.
