LGBTQ+ advocates say Merced is improving, as city honors Pride Month for fourth year
Although the coronavirus pandemic upended plans for June Pride month locally and nationwide, the City of Merced on Monday still recognized its LGTBQ+ community for the fourth year in a row with a pride month proclamation.
The proclamation was presented by Mayor Mike Murphy, who began the annual tradition during his inaugural year in office in 2016.
Members of the Merced LGBTQ+ Alliance were on hand Monday to receive the proclamation. “The City of Merced wants to be active in supporting you and your organization, and all of our community members, so I’m very happy to present this proclamation,” Murphy said.
The proclamation celebrates the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community, notes its longstanding efforts in seeking equal protection under the law and acknowledges the disproportionate violence such individuals face. It also reaffirms the city’s commitment to be inclusive.
Murphy noted that this year’s proclamation is particularly poignant, as it marks 50 years since the first Pride parade was held on June 28, 1970 in New York City a year after the Stonewall riots.
Half a century later, local advocates say while there is still much work to be done, Merced has made great progress in becoming a better place for its LGBTQ+ residents.
“While we still face a lot of inordinate challenges and stigma, Merced has really stepped up its game, and so thank you,” said Merced LGBTQ+ Alliance President Adam Lane at the City Council meeting.
“I was certainly glad to hear that at the meeting,” Murphy told the Sun-Star, but added, “I still think there’s a lot of work to be done at the City of Merced.”
Murphy said ensuring that Merced is inclusive and inviting must be practiced in every aspect of the city’s duties, including its priorities, hiring practices and how it serves the public.
Lane told the Sun-Star that holding Pride, including a drag show, in downtown Merced for the first time last July was a big step in the right direction for increasing positive visibility for the community. It helped welcome LGBTQ+ folks into the city’s cultural hubs. “So many of the businesses leave their (Pride) flags out,” Lane said.
Also, Merced’s first Transgender Day of Remembrance was hosted by the Alliance downtown at Bob Hart Square in November.
Still, Lane recognized that the experience of members of the LGBTQ+ community with different race, gender or class identities still varies significantly.
“There’s still a great safety concern, particularly for trans(gender) women,” Lane said, noting that transgender women of color especially encounter discrimination.
Lane applauded a recent LGBTQ+ Healing Circle event organized by the group Merced People of Color, which helped bridge the gap between communities the Merced LGBTQ+ Alliance had struggled to reach. He said he looks forward to collaborating with Merced POC and UC Merced’s Lambda Alliance during Pride 2021.
Another way the Alliance is reaching underserved communities during the pandemic is through virtual group meetups.
The meetups offer a safe space to give support, find solidarity, express feelings and celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. Some groups are hosted by Lane and others are by drag queens.
“They were a blessing in disguise, because we never would have done this but now we can reach people we never would have before,” Lane said. “We’re really having very beautiful conversations,” he added.
Lane said he would like to see more diversity in the types of groups facilitated. He said anybody with ideas or a desire to host can reach out on the Alliance’s website or any of its social media platforms.
This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 7:15 AM.