San Jose City Hall hosted a pride-flag raising for Silicon Valley Pride on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Silicon Valley Pride extends the celebration of Pride into the month of August with a week of activities ending with a parade and festival on Aug. 26 and Aug. 27.
The organization celebrates the LGBTQ+ community and its allies in San Jose and neighboring cities, according to its website.
Nicole Altamirano, chief executive officer of Silicon Valley Pride, hosted the event and explained why it was important to celebrate Pride outside of June.
“Because our community isn’t just vibrant in the months of June and August,” Altamirano said. “Our community lives out proud every single day, and every single day that’s a radial act of defiance to those that would see us persecuted.”
Mayor Matt Mahan said when the LGBTQ+ community is not being celebrated, there is a risk of reverting back to unacceptance.
“We have to affirm our values and celebrate the value of living out proud every single day based on the reality that when we don’t loudly and proudly consistently affirm our core values, we can see backsliding,” Mahan said.
City Councilmembers Pam Foley and Devora Davis consistently host City Hall’s Pride flag raisings twice a year in June and August.
Davis said raising these flags have a lot of meanings for the LGBTQ+ community.
“It showcases how we as a city are proud of and welcomed those in the LGBTQ+ community,” Davis said. “We are making a commitment, a promise, that we will continue to make this city a safe space, and that we want to strengthen our relationship and be inclusive of everyone including the LGBTQ+ community.”
Foley shared her reasoning as to why community members need to continue fighting for and protecting the LGBTQ+ community.
“We must ensure that every man, everyone no matter who they are, or whom they love, has an equal place in our society,” Foley said.
Foley said she shares a connection to the community because her brother died from AIDS, and is her number one reason to advocate and support LGBTQ+ rights.
Mahan said City Councilmember Omar Torres is the first out LGBTQ+ person of color to sit on San Jose’s City Council.
Torres said the gay community is being bombarded with unjust treatment on multiple levels.
“We reached an era where once again, our trans community is under attack, our gay community is under attack, our gender non-conforming community is under attack, from school boards, to city councils, to the federal level,” Torres said. “Our community continues to be attacked.”
He said there are multiple ways in which the LGBTQ+ community is expressing their pride.
“That is why when we are parading down the Santa Clara Street, when we’re dancing at Splash, when we’re enjoying brunch with beautiful drag queens, we let people know that we are loud and we are proud,” he said.
Splash is a gay nightclub in downtown San Jose according to its Instagram bio.
While Mahan and councilmembers Davis, Torres and Foley began to raise the LGBTQ+ and trans community flags, the Silicon Valley Gay Men’s Chorus performed the national anthem.
Corey Miller, the artistic director and conductor of Silicon Valley Gay Men’s Chorus, spoke about the history the choir has with singing at the flag raising.
“Silicon Valley Gay Men’s Chorus has been invited to sing at the Pride flag raising since it first started with Ken Yeager raising the pride flag the first time many years ago,” Miller said.
Councilmember Omar Torres expresses why he believes Silicon Valley Pride helps the San Jose Downtown community.
“A lot of folks come here, rent hotels and eat in the restaurants, and hang out in downtown San Jose,” Torres said. “So that’s why again it’s really important to celebrate Silicon Valley Pride, especially since a lot of our small businesses are still struggling post COVID-19,” Torres said.
