Flags will be flown at Los Angeles County facilities where American and California flags are flown each year
Los Angeles County offices will raise the Progress Pride Flag during June’s LGBTQ+ Pride Month, according to a motion unanimously approved by the Board of Supervisors.
The motion directed the county’s Internal Services Department to display the flag at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration and other Los Angeles County facilities where American and California flags are flown each year.
The move is in contrast to recent actions taken by other governing bodies that have banned displays of the Pride flag. Last month, Huntington Beach City Council voted against flying the flag on city-owned property, two years after voting unanimously to fly it.
The Progress Pride Flag was created by artist Daniel Quasar as a reimagination of Gilbert Baker’s original Gay Pride flag first flown 45 years ago on Freedom Day in San Francisco. The new design includes black and brown stripes representing marginalized and diverse communities of color, those lost to HIV/AIDS, and those living with the disease. Chevron shapes in the new colors represent “a need for forward movement,” according to the motion.
Supervisors Janice Hahn and Lindsey Horvath introduced the motion, with Hahn stating that they were seeing “anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-trans bills being passed at an alarming rate across the country.” By raising the Progress Pride Flag at county facilities, LA County is making its position clear: “LGBTQ+ residents have unwavering support from their government,” said Hahn in a statement after the vote.
Los Angeles County is one of several US cities that have passed similar measures allowing for displays of Pride flags during LGBTQ+ Pride Month celebrations.
