Proclamation Declaring June, 2015 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) Pride Month. (City Manager 2110)
Right. And those of you that would like to stand at the podium while I read this proclamation, I'm more than welcome to. Come on up to this. Let's do it. Like you said. Come down. All right. Ready? Proclamation. Whereas Alameda has a long, proud history of recognizing the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer questioning community members. And. Whereas, all, Alameda has worked together to fight bullying and harassment and teach respect for everyone, regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, faith, or any differences perceived or real. And. WHEREAS, the Alameda Unified School District has established the LGB GQ roundtable to ensure safer schools for all students, faculty and staff. And. WHEREAS, Each year, the City of Alameda Social Services Human Relations Board co-sponsors Alameda Annual Harvey Milk Day Celebration and Alameda 4th of July Parade, Gay Pride Float. And. Whereas Allen meetings are proud to live in a historic time where the President has declared his support for marriage equality and the end of Don't Ask, Don't Tell enabling gay and lesbian Alameda INS to openly serve in the military. And. Whereas, same sex marriage has been legalized in 36 states, including California. Yeah, you can indulge a little bit. Yeah, the District of Columbia and in 17 countries around the world. And. Whereas, LGBTQ residents contribute to our rich community culture as homeowners, taxpayers, business owners and service providers, and through participation in city government, the arts, religious institutions and community organizations. And. Whereas, The City of Alameda believes that all community members deserve equal treatment under the law now, therefore, be it resolved that I, Treasurer Spencer, Mayor of the City of Alameda, do hereby proclaim the month of June 2015 as LGBTQ Pride Month in the City of Alameda and in appreciation of the diverse contributions of LGBTQ members of the community and the unwavering quest for equal rights. FISHER Spencer, Mayor. Thank you. And each of you may introduce yourselves. And if you want to say anything, I'm going to come on down and hand this off to someone. Donna Dowdle. Dos Santos. Since it's been legal, we got married on 12 1314 at 1516. Congratulates Yes. Is that the strength in numbers? Yeah. Yeah. There you go. Henry Very well. Been a resident here in Alameda for about 11 years now. And this is such. A great community. It is very welcoming. It's very affirming. And not only the proclamation from the mayor in terms of Pride Month, but also the proclamation that was provided for Harvey Milk Day by the school district. In addition, the Social Services Human Relations Board, of which I've been a part for the past. Seven years or so. And also the LGBTQ roundtable, being a member of that group has contributed to my own ability to promote awareness and education, equity. Equality for the LGBTQ community. Here in Alameda. And so, again, a wonderful place to live. And thank you to the mayor and to all of our council members for your support of tonight's proclamation. Thank you. Only they're. Ready. This is it. I understand. I do not want to be like this. Thank you, gentlemen. I hear. Feel free to text us by letting us know the score we have. All right. I said that doesn't. Okay. That's our proclamation, right? Our communications, not agenda. We have the speaker. And now can do it. That? Yeah. Okay. I'm sorry. I came here unprepared. So I only found out about this meeting a few minutes ago. My name is Candi DeWitt and I am founder, co-founder of Mother Voices of Mothers Project and United for a Path to Hope. And I come here tonight because I am in favor of AB 1421 laws law which will help our most severely and persistently mentally ill. I am a mother of a young son that became ill with the debilitating illness of severe schizophrenia at the young age of 18. No matter what we did, we could not get the sustained help he needed given our current mental health system. The reason for this is our son, along with many others, was unable to understand that he was ill and needed help. This condition is a part of the illness. It's part of the same brain that is broken, that is unable to understand that delusions are not real, and that the paranoia that you feel is not true. It affects approximately 50% of people with severe mental illness, schizophrenia or bipolar illness. And doctors refer to this condition as honest nausea. Currently, our system is made up of 100% of voluntary programs. Those who are unable to understand their ill will not seek help, and they will not participate in voluntary programs. And so we continue to have our revolving doors of psychiatric emergency hospital stays, which do nothing and costs the county a lot of money and put the public at risk of suicide, jail and sometimes harms to others. I imagine that many of you know our family's story. And it's a tragedy. For our family and for another family. And nothing we ever expected in our lifetime. We must have something different in our system. We must have a different tool in the toolbox. And we must give families the ability to help their loved ones. I do not feel any joy in revealing our son's suffering or our family's pain. But the story must be told. It's a story of thousands. Violence and untreated mental illness are realities. Violence happens when a right to treatment is denied and when inadequate, inadequate treatment is provided. This is a public safety issue. It's a human rights issue. And most of all, it's a moral issue. And I urge you to support AB 1421 Moore's Law. We note with Supervisor Miley today for a couple of hours, it will go before our Board of Supervisors in the late summer to early fall. I believe we have to. I believe we have two supervisors endorsements. We need three. And we need your leadership. We need change. Thank you. Next is consent calendar. Well. Oh. Was it. Communication? That one was pulled. So as far as I know, we don't have any other speakers. But I. Guess at this point we don't have any other speakers. Correct. Okay.