Multnomah County’s Board of Commissioners recognizes the month of June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Pride month to highlight the necessity of equity and inclusion in Multnomah County.
The proclamation, submitted by Commissioner Loretta Smith, commemorates the 42nd annual Pride month celebrated in the United States. Multnomah County began hosting Pride celebrations in 1992.
This month was chosen to honor the brave leaders of the 1969 uprising at New York City’s Stonewall Tavern in Greenwich Village who ignited greater LGBTQ awareness in the United States.
“Pride month is a way of celebrating the diversity that enriches our community and to highlight the LGBTQ individuals, organizations and allies that contribute to the county’s mission of equity and inclusion,” Smith said.
The proclamation also acknowledges that the LGBTQ community in Multnomah County still faces discrimination and harassment despite the great gains achieved by the modern LGBTQ consciousness movement.
Those invited for the proclamation at the board's June 14 meeting included Elizabeth Carroll and Lucy Forsten, co-chairs of Prism, a Multnomah County employee resource group made up of more than 80 LGBTQ and ally members. Also in attendance was Jess Herbach, a youth program coordinator from the Sexual Minority Youth Resource Center, which is one of few LGBTQ drop-in resource centers in Oregon.
“We want to thank you for all of your support,” Forsten said. “It is felt in many ways all over the county.”
Prism will join Chair Jeff Cogen and other county employees as they represent Multnomah County in the Pride Parade on Sunday, June 17.
More information: Pride Northwest Portland Pride Festival & Parade (http://pridenw.org/)
June 15, 2012