Pride flag raised at Confederation Building in St. John's

The Pride flag was raised at the Confederation Building in St. John's Thursday ahead of Pride Week 2017.

Members of the community including activists, politicians and people from St. John's Pridegathered in the lobby to witness and celebrate the event.

"Of course I'm feeling happy.It's Pride Week and there's so much to celebrate within our community," activist Gemma Hickey said.

"It's great, and I'm all about celebrating and coming together as a community and acknowledging that, but we have to remember that we still have a ways to go and we have to continue that fight."

In particular, Hickey highlighted "the fact that a number of transgender people are not able to identify as they so choose."

Hickey also said change is needed in the education system.

"There's a lot of children who are still getting bullied because of sexual orientation and gender identity and so that always needs to be on the forefront of discussions," Hickey said.

"So we all need to keep an open mind and continue the conversation and hopefully change will come."

Pride Week 2017 takes place from July 10-16.

The festivities in St. John's conclude with the Pride Parade, which begins at 1 p.m. on Sunday, July 16 and goes from St. John's City Hall to Bannerman Park.