Huntington Beach City Council will consider flying LGBTQ flag each year

Huntington Beach could soon be flying the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Pride flag for six weeks each year.

An item at Monday night’s City Council meeting, introduced by Mayor Kim Carr and Councilman Dan Kalmick, requests that the City Manager fly the LGBTQ flag each year at City Hall from the third week of May until the end of June.

Additionally, the item requests that the city officially recognize the month of June as LGBTQ Pride month.

If approved, the rainbow-colored flag would be flown for the six-week period each year, likely just below the Huntington Beach city flag.

“Really, for me, I think this is just long overdue,” Carr said in a phone interview Friday. “I think it’s also really important this year in particular, because it’s imperative that we stand unified and that we hear all voices in Orange County. It’s important that we recognize everyone, and value and respect everyone.

“I think this is another symbolic gesture to really set Huntington Beach apart as a welcoming, inclusive community that respects everyone,” she continued. “The flag is a symbol of unity, it’s a symbol of love, and I just think all of those attributes really do mean so much more this year, when we’ve had so much divisiveness.”

Carr said that she hopes the item will pass by a unanimous vote of 6-0; Councilman Erik Peterson will miss the meeting with an excused absence.

“I’ve received some really positive emails so far,” she said.

June is nationally recognized as LGBTQ Pride month in honor of the Stonewall Uprising in New York, a series of demonstrations by members of the LGBTQ community after a police raid in Greenwich Village on June 28, 1969.

Monday’s virtual City Council meeting begins at 6 p.m. and can be watched on channel HBTV-3 or online at huntingtonbeach.legistar.com. Residents may send comments on agenda items to supplementalcomm@surfcity-hb.org.

Communications received by 2 p.m. Monday will be distributed to the council prior to consideration of agenda-related items.

Residents are encouraged to submit comments during the meeting via Zoom. The Webinar ID is 971 5413 0528 and can be reached via the Zoom app or by calling (669) 900-6833 and entering the ID. Individuals will be placed in a holding queue and prompted to speak when the city clerk announces their name or the last three digits of their phone number.

Time for remarks is limited to three minutes.

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