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In Same Day, LA County Unanimously Approves New LGBTQ+ Commission, While Orange County Bans Pride Flags
Supervisor Hilda Solis, of L.A. County, and Supervisor Donald Wagner, of Orange County, at their respective board meetings on June, 6 2023.
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Screenshot from the L.A. County and Orange County Board of Supervisors livestreams.
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Topline:
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday to create an LGBTQ+ commission, which will advise the county and departments on things like policies, training and budgets, and provide reports on LGBTQ+ issues.
About the commission: The commission will include 15 members, with the expectation that transgender, nonbinary and other marginalized identities will be included. A majority will be appointed by countywide elected officials, and the board will approve the remaining two — members who will come from an “at-large” process with the LGBTQ+ community.
Why now: The motion, from Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn, comes during Pride month — and at a time when national rhetoric against LGBTQ+ people is showing up in Southern California. Last Friday, groups protested a Pride assembly at an elementary school in North Hollywood.
Meanwhile: On the same day, the Orange County Board of Supervisors also voted 3-2 to pass a flag restriction on county buildings, which Supervisor Donald Wagner said was in direct response to a request to fly a specific flag this month — stopping short of naming the Pride flag. The LGBTQ+ Center OC said this action to stop the Pride flag from being flown is similar to Huntington Beach's flag restriction.
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