Local Pride Proclamations Hit Record Numbers

LOCAL PRIDE PROCLAMATIONS

HIT RECORD NUMBERS AS NATIONAL TRENDS MOVE AWAY FROM EQUALITY

By Allan Acevedo

While San Diego Pride’s much-anticipated annual rally, parade, and festival are just days away, for North County residents and visitors, we already got a taste of Pride in June with record-setting participation – in more ways than one.

Notably, The North County LGBTQ Resource Center’s Pride by the Beach attracted an estimated 20,000 participants to its family and pet friendly, drug and alcoholfree event. The festival featured more than 100 vendors and a day packed with performances, speeches, and entertainment.

The stage was extra full when time came to call for elected officials to join Center staff and Pride volunteers on stage.

In that moment, Max Disposti, founder and executive director of the Center, emphasized in a social media post that, “The biggest joy for me is to see our staff and volunteers with their heart full of joy, the love and support for each other and the community, a dream come true after years of hard labor and determination.”

But pride and the community’s labor were in full force the whole month of June, not just at their June 11 Pride festival in Oceanside, serving all the north county communities.

Record-Number Pride Month Municipal Proclamations Significantly, this year saw the most proclamation issued for Pride Month, in recognition of the Center’s work. This year, The County of San Diego, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Escondido, Vista, and Encinitas issued proclamations. And for the very first time, The City of San Marcos issues a beautiful proclamation as well.

These seven proclamations stand as a testament to the efforts to increase visibility and build community in our coastal and inland north county communities. In 2019, only Oceanside and Carlsbad issued proclamations.

Additionally, Palomar College, under the direction of Pride Center Coordinator, Dr. Abbie Cory, raised the Pride Flag on campus for the first time, as did Oceanside Unified School District with a flag raising ceremony at its offices. continued on Page 26

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