The Woodland City Council passed a proclamation declaring June as Pride Month.

“This month, every month, the city of Woodland stands with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community as they take pride in who they are and whom they love,” according to the proclamation read by councilwoman Mayra Vega during the Tuesday, June 3 meeting.

“Pride Month” is a time to remember the gift that is our remarkable diversity, making all of us stronger as we continue to pursue equality, acceptance, and freedom for all,” the proclamation continued. “The LGBTQ+ community has fought tirelessly for their very right to exist and to be treated with the respect and equality that everyone deserves.”

The proclamation passed 5-0. June will serve as a month to celebrate the resilience and efforts of the LGBTQ+ community to fight for equality and acceptance.

“I stand here before you in full support of the Pride Month proclamation to uplift and celebrate all LGBTQ+ community,” former Woodland mayor Xóchitl Rodriguez Murillo said. “In 2018, we successfully passed the first proclamation recognizing the rights and dignity of our LGBTQ+ community, and I take immense pride in the continuous support we’ve fostered since that significant milestone seven years ago. Today, our chamber resonates with unity and strength, and I commend everyone here today, present and out in the community, for standing in solidarity for equality. Every individual on this planet, regardless of sex or gender, deserves the freedom to be themselves and the right to love whom they choose.”“I just want to acknowledge the courage it takes to declare in support of Pride Month. I really appreciate it. Once upon a time, this was a controversial thing; Woodland took the lead, declared Pride Month. I was proud of the city for doing that. And then it became a matter of, of course, we support Pride Month. Well, perhaps now it’s a little bit controversial again. There’s been a bit of backsliding. I just want you to know that as a resident, I’m proud of you for continuing to support Pride Month, it’s clearly the right thing to do,” Woodland resident Whit Manley said.

Allison Rodriguez, director of the behavioral health youth and family programs at CommuniCare+OLE, along with a coordinator for the Elevate Queer Yolo program accepted the proclamation.

“Thank you for having us here, really fills me with so much joy to be in a space that really wants to celebrate Pride, and celebrate our LGBTQ+ community, and that we’re not the only ones talking tonight, and that we’re just filled with a room that is just as supportive,” said Rodriguez. “It really means so much because we are here to work with the community in that way and to build community, and we’re so grateful and feel really committed to continuing gender affirming care and LGBTQ+ services through CommuniCare+OLE behavioral health services, and our primary care services.”

Rodriguez continued: “We are also just so grateful to have been able to bring pride to Woodland now, five years ago, unofficially, six from somebody else, which was just as magical. It started very grassroots, and we really appreciate the foundation that we were able to build, and we gain more community support every year, and it’s just so critical right now to bring these safe, inclusive, and joyous experiences to the community. As it’s been mentioned, our LGBTQ communities are facing pretty severe risks right now of losing access to basic rights and health care needs that are critical and that are considered suicide prevention and so critical to mental health and wellness, and so these spaces, we just hope to continue them to combat those negative impacts, and really overall, improve health outcomes for our LGBTQ+.”

The city of Woodland will have its Pride Parade on Saturday, June 21, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The parade will start at Main and Elm Streets and will end with a party at 212 2nd St. in downtown Woodland, where there will be food trucks, music, resource booths and activities for all

“Thank you for the acknowledgement and the courage it takes to do this. We’re under attack right now with certain segments of our society, and we’re not going to back down from this. We believe that equality is a human right, and we’re going to continue to do this, whether we get attacked or not. So we’re proud to do this, we’ll continue to do this,” Mayor Rich Lansburgh said.