Pride Month needs a vote

Editor,

On April 21, the Mariposa Democratic Club presented the Mariposa County Board of Supervisors with a proclamation asking that June be designated as Mariposa Pride Month.

I live in District 3, have served on jury duty, pay property taxes and actively support local businesses. I am a stakeholder in this community and I write this letter in support of the proclamation submitted to the board.

I ask that the supervisors put this item on the agenda for a vote at one of the regular meetings in May. This proclamation needs a vote, and the public needs to know where each of the supervisors stands on this issue.

This request is not new. When our community previously sought a proclamation designating June as Pride Month in 2022, the request was blocked before it could be placed on the board’s agenda, as reported in the Mariposa Gazette, “Principle or Politics?” — a disappointment to many constituents.

Now, we are asking the board to take a different path.

The community has spoken. This year, the Mariposa Democratic Club in partnership with Mariposa Pride collected 597 signatures in just a few weeks from residents supporting this proclamation — a significant show of support in our county.

Why does this matter? Recognition matters because history matters.

Our community has fought hard for our place in American life — from the Stonewall uprising in 1969, which launched the modern liberation movement, to the devastating AIDS epidemic, where more than 700,000 people died and that tested and strengthened our resolve.

Pride Month honors that history and the people who lived it. It also honors our LGBTQ neighbors and the young people growing up in Mariposa.

Our members are civically engaged, own and support local businesses, participate in local government, pay taxes and organize family friendly events that bring this community together.

We deserve recognition — just as we recognize many other groups, like veterans — who deserve a month not just one day of recognition. These groups and organizations, and ours, contribute to what makes Mariposa and America great.

I urge the board to support the proclamation submitted on April 21 to designate June as Pride Month. We have earned and deserve that recognition.

David Taggart
Mariposa