Happy Pride Month!

It has been a busy Pride month here in the San Gabriel Valley. The Center is celebrating their 10th Anniversary, and although the Covid-19 Pandemic has still limited big events from happening this year, it has been a historic month around the SGV.

The month kicked off with a flag raising at Huntington Hospital. This was a monumental moment as Huntington Hospital has never flown a Pride flag in support of their LGBTQ+ patients, employees, and local residents. In addition, Pasadena hosted a Pride Flag raising as well for the first time at Pasadena City Hall. Both of these locations are now proudly flying the Progress Pride flag which is an 11 stripe flag that includes solidarity with our black and brown LGBTQ family.

In addition to flag raisings, the San Gabriel Valley LGBTQ Center received three different proclamations from three cities within the SGV in recognition of June as Pride month. El Monte kicked off the month with their proclamation, and was followed by Baldwin Park and Pasadena. It is monumental that these cities are now proclaiming June as Pride month because this will continue to raise awareness and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion within our local cities.

None of these things could have been possible without the work of our local City Governments, residents, and donors that have worked tirelessly to further our mission of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the San Gabriel Valley. We still have a long way to go, but these milestone moments were a huge step in the right direction for all of us here in the SGV. Baldwin Park LGBT residents, El Monte LGBT residents, and Pasadena LGBT residents can be proud that their cities joined a small group of cities within the San Gabriel Valley that recognize June as Pride month.

While we celebrate these milestones, we are always looking to the future. A very important part of the future of our San Gabriel Valley LGBTQ center relies heavily on our donors. Without our donors, we will not be able to open a physical location, increase our programs, and hopefully have an increased staff to serve our local LGBTQ community. If you have the means to do so, even a $5 monthly donation or choosing the San Gabriel Valley LGBTQ Center as a charity support on Amazon Smile can make a big difference to our center.

Another important part of our center are all of our volunteers! We could not do anything in our center without our volunteers, and we would love to have you on our team! There is a job for everyone and anyone that wants to help. Finally, we wouldn’t have a center without all of our members from all over the SGV. If you are looking for a supportive, inclusive, diverse group of people, check out our peer support group schedule and drop into the one that feels right for you. There is room for everyone here in the San Gabriel Valley!

Happy Pride Everyone! Enjoy the rest of June!

Be Kind to Yourself!