Proclamation Declaring June 2019 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Pride Month. (City Manager 2110)
So whereas Alameda is proud to recognize the contributions of our community members who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and or questioning to the arts, local businesses, schools, government, community organizations and religious institutions. And. WHEREAS, the Alameda Unified School District's LGBTQ roundtable fosters an inclusive, safe and welcoming environment for all students, faculty and staff. And. Whereas, Alameda and stand united under the motto Everyone belongs here to reduce bullying and harassment and teach respect for everyone, regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, faith, gender, sexual orientation or any differences perceived or real. And. Whereas, on January 17, 2017, the Alameda City Council adopted a resolution affirming Alameda its commitment as a sanctuary city to the values of dignity, inclusivity and respect for all individuals, regardless of ethnic or national origin, gender, race, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, or immigration status. And. Whereas, the city of Alameda affirms the dignity, value, and right to equal treatment of all community members. Now, therefore, be it resolved that I, Maryland, as the Ashcraft mayor of the city of Alameda, do hereby proclaim the month of June 2019 as LGBTQ Pride Month in the City of Alameda and encourage our meetings to learn more about the history and rich contribution of our LGBTQ community. And with that, and before we get into present the proclamations, would each of you like to speak briefly and to the to the audience into the microphone? Sure. Okay. Well, I had prepared something because I was told to. But if you don't want me to read it, I don't have to. You were you didn't prepare. You did. I did. I did. As long as it's not single spaced for three pages. Sure, sir. No problem. I just wanted to say that we are Jeremy and Andrew and to Houston. In May of 2010, we met in Los Angeles, where we began our relationship together. We and Steve instantly fell in love and decided to make plans for an eternal future together after vacation to San Francisco Bay Area. We were amazed at how much we loved it here and put plans in motion. After careful consideration of the cost of living, we decided to move back to the Midwest, where we both are from to save money with a three year game plan. Our plans consisted of getting married, building our careers, then relocating to the Bay Area of California, where all are welcome, eventually creating a family. We were married in 2014 and started City, Iowa, where same sex marriage was legal at the time and close to where we were living during our time in the Midwest, I was able to complete a cosmetology degree as well. After getting married, we knew we had to leave right away due to not being married legally in our home states. Our adventure to the Bay Area began in September of 2014. We were first looking in San Francisco but didn't feel it was right fit for us in our future plans. After weeks of looking elsewhere but still being close to the city, someone had mentioned Alameda. They had said it was an island city and a hidden gem in the Bay Area. The minute we drove over the Park Street Bridge, we were amazed. It reminded us of home in so many ways. Our mothers agree. We were not settled until we found a place to live in Alameda. Knowing that we were someday going to have a family, we started doing our research. We saw that Alameda was so safe and clean with good schools, great people, and a fabulous community. When. So much support. We have now been in Alameda for nearly five years and as a general manager of the Park Street, Starbucks in Alameda and I'm a hairstylist in Alameda because of our love for Alameda. We quickly got involved. As many of you may know, we are very big in supporting our community for which we love, including the Kiwanis Club of Alameda, which I'm the president and adds are on the board, the Elks Lodge of Alameda, in which we are in charge of two events every year and the Oakland East Bay, Cayman's chorus. In addition, we have also been very involved with many community charity events, raising thousands of dollars so that those less fortunate can do and have things that may seem out of reach, such as college food, clothing, health and a clean city. Our latest adventure is to have a baby. We are actually in step two of three right now in our IVF surrogacy process, hoping to have a baby by fall of 2020. The cost of this is very expensive and timely. We applied for a grant through a third party nonprofit organization and were awarded half the cost where we were so grateful to them as we never thought we could afford this. Also, we are big advocates for fighting for equal rights for everyone. Lately, more issues have been arising that are we are unwilling to stand by and let happen. One of these is fair IVF surrogacy health insurance laws for everyone, including same sex partners in which we have made some good process. We have been working on this for two years now and have gotten so much support and advice from our friends and community. Hopefully it will make it easier and less costly for same sex partners to have a baby via surrogacy. All these things would not be possible if not for living in a non non-judgmental and non prejudiced place. We have no plans of ever leaving Alameda as we feel it deserves the same support from us as it gives back to us. We love you, alameda, and thank you for being so diverse and accepting so that we can walk the street holding hands, build a family, build a career, be successful, and most of all be heard because of your open hearts to diversity and intolerance for discrimination based on sexual orientation. Happy pride. Thank you. Thank you. Who's next? Okay. Come on up. Robbie. Robbie and Lala. Come on. Okay. Hello, guys. My name is Robbie Wilson, and I am a proud Alameda. Hello, you guys. And this is Lala Turner. And she actually is she actually want to say you still want to say something. To just really bring the microphone into your level? We'd love to hear from you. So how old are you? How old are you? For starters. Nine now. Nine. Nine years old. Nine. What grade? Third. Wow. Going into fourth. Okay. Yeah. You wouldn't say anything else? No. Okay. Well, she was elbowed before. Intimidated, but. Yeah, we moved here. Oh, it's been 22 years. Two in Alameda. I do a lot of service for Alameda. A lot of you guys. And part of what I love, I'm so honored today and just being up here once again here and the fact that Alameda acknowledges this. And I remember the first year when I was driving by when turned the corner right there and the flag was flying down. And it was the first time in all these years I live there, here. And I saw that and I had to pull over because there was a moment. And so I'm definitely proud to receive this. And you want to see anything now? Okay. Next time. All right. Thank you guys so much for all you guys do. Who's next? Deborah and Alison, come on up. I am just thrilled to live in a town. I realize I've been. Here eight years, eight. Years. And I found. Alameda because Deborah was here already. And just that. Our diversity and welcoming ness just keeps growing. And I'm proud to be here and. Really grateful that. You know, we're standing before a. City council who's. Like, so. Genuinely happy and embracing, celebrating this month and giving the proclamation. Thank you, Madam Mayor and council people. Thank you for being here. It. I wasn't prepared. You were here. That's all right. Well, well, thank you for being here and welcome to you. Okay. With that, Jim and I are going to present proclamations. With all the political risks to the party, is there any hope for you? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Who are we to believe? All right. Yes, please. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, sir. If you want to. Okay. Hey, everybody, to the paparazzi. Let's turn this way, way, way down. All the way down. Do we need an additional marathon? Streep. Yeah. Okay. So. Thank you, everyone. Yeah. Sonic, give us your address for the proclamation. Thank you. Okay. Our next item is oral communications, where anyone can speak on an item, not on the agenda. There's 15 minutes allocated at this time for public comment. Do we have any speak? We have no speakers. We have no speakers left.