Legislation that would establish June as Pride Month in California cleared its first hurdle this week when an Assembly committee unanimously passed it.
Assembly Bill 2969 was authored by gay Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell), chair of California's Legislative LGBT Caucus. The bill was co-authored by all members of the caucus, according to a news release from Low's office.
The bill, which would designate June as Pride Month by statute, was approved 5-0 by the Assembly Committee on Government Organization.
"California has the largest LGBT population of any state in the union, and the state is home to over 40 LGBT Pride celebrations each year," Low stated in the release. "We have codified many other cultural celebrations into statute; it's time to add Pride to that list."
AB 2969 is supported by Equality California, the state's LGBT advocacy group, and the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
June is historically significant for the LGBT community. The Stonewall riots, considered to be the birth of the modern LGBT rights movement, occurred in June 1969 to protest police targeting of the city's LGBT population.
In 1970, the first Pride parade was held in New York City on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots. According to Wikipedia, the first event in San Francisco resembling a Pride parade was a march and "gay-in" in June 1970. Since 1972, the parade and festival has been held every year. (This year's event is June 23-24.)
AB 2969 will now head to the Assembly floor.