The Fresno County Democratic Central Committee has not endorsed any candidate in this race.
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Pride has always been political. And today’s Los Angeles pride parade, reorganized as #ResistMarch, was no different.
When you’re a part of a marginalized group, celebrating who you are is a radical act.
I marched in today’s #ResistMarch with the Stonewall Democrats to celebrate my LGBT friends and neighbors, because I know what it means to be seen as “other.” As the son of immigrants, I grew up walking past neighborhood graffiti intended to fill me with fear, to keep me in line, and to hold me back.
But I was able to move past hate and bigotry, and take pride in who I am, thanks in large part to those who came before me.
Lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender and other Americans have fought for decades for their own rights, for simple recognition that they exist, and for the opportunity to live without fear. From the Stonewall riots, to the earliest pride parades, and through the fight for marriage equality and transgender rights, tremendous progress has been made.
As an elected official, I’ve tried to play my own role in that progress. I worked to ensure the families of LGBT California workers would receive benefits immediately after marriage equality became the law of the land. I demanded that pharmaceutical companies provide Californians access to affordable HIV medications, and they responded by making them available in states across the country. And I’ve pushed California’s pension funds to use their influence to make corporate boards more diverse, including sexual preference and gender identity in that definition.
Yet, there’s much more work to be done. And under our current president and vice-president, there’s a risk that decades of progress could be erased.
It’s critical that all Californians, whether lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, straight, or questioning defend the rights of our neighbors and the people that we love.
In solidarity,
John
