Councilmember Raman Condemns Anti-LGBTQIA+ Hate Incidents and Puts Forward Resolution to Support The LGBTQIA+ Community

For Immediate Release: June 16, 2023

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COUNCILMEMBER RAMAN CONDEMNS ANTI-LGBTQIA+ HATE INCIDENTS AND PUTS FORWARD RESOLUTION TO SUPPORT THE LGBTQIA+ COMMUNITY

LOS ANGELES — Today, Councilmember Nithya Raman introduced a resolution declaring that  the City of Los Angeles stands in solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community in condemning the recent hate incidents in and around our city and reaffirms its support, during this Pride Month, for ensuring that the City is a welcoming, safe, and inclusive home for all LGBTQIA+ and gender non-conforming people to learn, live, and thrive.

The City of Los Angeles held the world’s first officially-permitted LGBTQIA+ Pride Parade in 1970, one year after the Stonewall Rebellion in New York which began after a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, and has been a long-time supporter of the LGBTQIA+ community. However, hate incidents targeting LGBTQIA+ individuals, and particularly trans women of color, have been on the rise in recent years, with the FBI reporting a 70% increase in reported hate crimes for LGBTQIA+ people from 2020 to 2021 alone. 

In recent months, there have been several instances of homophobic acts of violence and hate in and around the City of Los Angeles. In Council District 4, protesters attempted to prevent people from entering the Sherman Oaks Martin Pollard Branch Library and yelled hate speech at families and children participating in a Drag Queen Story Hour, and on the eve of Pride Month a group of individuals vandalized and tore down a Progress Pride Flag on the “Shakespeare Bridge” in Los Feliz.

Raman’s resolution reaffirms that the City of Los Angeles seeks to ensure the physical, emotional, and psychological safety of all LGBTQIA+ individuals, including those with intersectional identities, as part of protecting the cultural diversity of our city. 

“As allies, we can continue to hold space for queer joy while still doing the necessary work of addressing the discrimination, exclusion, and hate towards the LGBTQIA+ community in our homes, in our neighborhoods, and beyond,” said Councilmember Raman. “Here in Los Angeles, we don’t just tolerate LGBTQIA+ individuals— we embrace and uplift them. They are our neighbors, our doctors, our teachers, our librarians, our public servants, our community advocates, and an integral part of the city we call home.”

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