Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Councilman Tim McOsker Thursday raised the Progress Pride Flag over City Hall for first time.
The flag will be flown daily over City Hall in June, which is Pride Month, commemorating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride, a movement that began after the Stonewall riots, a series of gay liberation protests in 1969 in New York City.
“I’m proud to have signed this historic motion to fly the pride flag over City Hall,” Bass said in a statement. “Our message to the rest of the country and to the world is clear — now more than ever, we must stand together. We know the harm that discrimination and hate brings and I’m proud that in Los Angeles, we accept our LGBTQIA+ community with open arms.”
The flag was created in 2018 by graphic designer Daniel Quasar. It retains the common six-stripe rainbow design of the original gay pride flag, but adds black, brown, light blue, pink and white stripes to symbolize other marginalized people, including the Black and Indigenous communities and other people of color, and people who have died from or are living with HIV/AIDS.
McOsker emphasized that the city is for everyone.
“We want to make sure that everyone feels comfortable, everyone feels seen, everyone feels embraced,” said McOsker, who represents the 15th District, which consists of the Harbor Area, Harbor Gateway and Watts.
McOsker introduced the motion to update the city’s flag policy, and has been an ally of the LGBTQ+ community, in part for his daughter and her wife, who he has publicly spoken about.
Last week, the City Council passed an ordinance — signed by Bass — allowing the city to display pride flags during June.
Last year, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to raise the Progress Pride Flag at several government buildings, and did so again on June 1.
The first Pride Flag debuted at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade in June 1978. At the encouragement of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, artist Gilbert Baker designed the flag to symbolize the value and dignity of the gay community.