During a ceremony on Mon., May 23, Long Beach City College celebrated Harvey Milk Day by raising the Pride Flag. The Pride Flag will fly at both the Pacific Coast Campus and Liberal Arts Campus and will remain until the end of June, which is the month nationally recognized as Pride Month.

“It’s important for our students and our employees of all diverse backgrounds to be part of a campus community where they feel welcomed and included,” said Long Beach Community College District Board of Trustee President Uduak-Joe Ntuk. “To raise the Pride Flag at LBCC is an opportunity for us to highlight an extraordinary leader — Harvey Milk — and to bring to light his story and his fight for equality.”

Every year, California celebrates on May 22 in memory of Harvey Milk, a prominent gay activist. He worked to end discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, including his fight against the Briggs Initiative which banned gays and lesbians from working in California schools. He was the first openly gay man elected to public office in the country as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in the late 1970s. Sadly, he had been serving as a Supervisor for only 11 months when he was assassinated.

“To have this visibility and recognition is so important – especially during a time when our LGBTQ+ community is being attacked in states like Florida, and safe LGBTQ+ spaces across the country have been targeted with threats or acts of violence,” said LBCCD Superintendent-President Dr. Mike Muñoz. “Raising the Pride Flag shows that the LBCC community recognizes and welcome all of our LGBTQ+ students, faculty and staff. And as an openly gay man, this is a day that I personally celebrate as I would not be here working for an educational institution without the work of Harvey Milk.”

LBCC continues to find ways to better serve LBCC’s LGBTQ+ students including:

• Implementing the Preferred Name Policy. This policy gives students, including transgender and gender non-conforming students, the option to use a preferred first name which might be different from their legal first name.
• LBCC created a pronoun guide to help the College to be a more inclusive environment and to affirm students’ identity.
• The College is also planning a variety of Pride events to take place during the month of June. All of the upcoming events and panel discussions can be found at www.lbcc.edu/lgbtq-resources.

Photo caption

Long Beach Community College Board of Trustees surrounded by Long Beach City College staff and students.

Front row (left to right): Dr. Jerome Hunt, LBCC Assistant Professor of Political Science; LBCCD Board of Trustees President Uduak-Joe Ntuk; and LBCCD Superintendent-President Dr. Mike Muñoz; and LBCCD Board of Trustees Member Sunny Zia (far right).

Back row: LBCCD Board of Trustees Member Dr. Virginia Baxter (far left) and LBCCD Board of Trustees Vice President Herlinda Chico (center).