By Vanguard Staff
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proclaimed June 2026 as LGBTQ Pride Month, highlighting the state’s history of LGBTQ activism while reaffirming California’s commitment to protecting LGBTQ rights amid what he described as renewed national challenges.
In a proclamation issued Friday and released Sunday, Newsom said California “supports and celebrates the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community as they take pride in who they are and whom they love,” adding that “That pride is inseparable from history: a history of resistance, resilience, and the refusal to be erased.”
The governor’s proclamation traces the contributions of LGBTQ people throughout American and California history, emphasizing that LGBTQ individuals have long played leading roles in movements for civil rights, women’s rights, labor organizing and broader social justice.
“LGBTQ people have been a vital part of our communities for as long as we can remember,” Newsom wrote. “Even during the most difficult, most bigoted of times, LGBTQ people didn’t just survive — they lived. They found joy where they could, even if it was behind closed doors, although many refused to go into the closet at all. Because who someone is, and whom they love, cannot be decided by any law or politician.”
The proclamation commemorates the 57th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising in New York while also highlighting California’s own role in LGBTQ history. Newsom cited the 1959 Cooper’s Do-nuts protest in Los Angeles, the 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria uprising in San Francisco’s Tenderloin and the 1967 Black Cat Tavern demonstrations in Los Angeles as early examples of LGBTQ resistance against discrimination and police harassment.
Newsom also acknowledged California’s mixed historical record, referencing both discrimination and advances in LGBTQ rights.
“This state, like all others, does not have a perfect record,” he wrote. “From the Briggs Initiative to the AIDS crisis, Californians have known both the depths of loss and the heights of hard-won progress.”
The proclamation credits LGBTQ activists with helping defeat the Briggs Initiative, which sought to prohibit gay and lesbian people from teaching in California public schools, and notes that medical institutions in San Francisco established the world’s first outpatient AIDS clinic and inpatient AIDS ward during the AIDS epidemic. It also highlights California’s leadership in the fight for marriage equality and civil rights protections.
While celebrating those achievements, Newsom warned that challenges remain.
“The fight is far from over,” the governor wrote. “More than one in five hate crimes are motivated by anti-LGBTQ bias, with transgender people — and Black transgender women in particular — bearing a disproportionate share of that violence.”
He also criticized current federal policies affecting LGBTQ people, writing, “A hostile federal administration is attempting to erase decades of progress, outright denying the existence of transgender people, even as it works to attack critical supports for transgender and other LGBTQ individuals.”
Newsom concluded by reaffirming California’s commitment to LGBTQ equality.
“During Pride Month, we rededicate ourselves to the continued fight,” he wrote. “With the rainbow flag proudly raised over the State Capitol, California is proud to continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with all members of the LGBTQ community to protect and build on our progress toward a better and safer future for all.”
The proclamation officially declares June 2026 as LGBTQ Pride Month in California.
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“The proclamation officially declares June 2026 as LGBTQ Pride Month in California.”
What am I missing? It’s June 29th today, the month is almost over.
They usually do the declarations at the end rather than the beginning of the month.