OCEANSIDE — Pride is underway in Oceanside following a mayoral proclamation recognizing June as LGBTQ Pride Month and the city’s annual Pride by the Beach celebration.
For the past 19 years, Pride by the Beach has connected LGBTQ residents from across North County and beyond, drawing thousands to downtown Oceanside for family-friendly, alcohol-free entertainment and community celebration.
The event is organized by the North County LGBTQ Resource Center, located at 1919 Apple Street in Oceanside. In recent years, Pride by the Beach has attracted more than 20,000 attendees annually, according to the center.
Days before this year’s celebration, Mayor Esther Sanchez read a proclamation at the June 3 City Council meeting recognizing June as LGBTQ Pride Month.
“As we celebrate and declare June as Pride Month in Oceanside, we stand with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community in our own city of Oceanside as they declare their own pride in who they are and who they love,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez noted that June marks the origins of Pride celebrations honoring the LGBTQ community’s civil rights achievements, including the Stonewall uprising — a series of demonstrations and riots that began June 28, 1969, between police and gay rights activists outside the Stonewall Inn in New York City. The events helped launch the modern international gay rights movement.
While progress has been made over the years, Sanchez said LGBTQ community members still “face unacceptable levels of discrimination and violence” around the world.
The Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ people in the United States for the first time following what it described as a sharp increase in anti-LGBTQ legislation nationwide.
According to the organization, more than 75 anti-LGBTQ bills have been signed into law this year alone, more than double last year’s total, which was considered the worst on record at the time.
Sanchez also recognized the work of the North County LGBTQ Resource Center, which provides services related to employment, housing, immigration, gender-affirming care, therapy, awareness training for law enforcement and other professionals, substance use disorder treatment and more.
The center has invested approximately $12 million into the community through its programs and services since 2008, according to Executive Director Max Disposti.
Disposti, who attended the proclamation ceremony, said Sanchez has been a strong supporter of the LGBTQ community. He also thanked Deputy Mayor Eric Joyce, whom he described as another ally.
Sanchez and Joyce were the only two council members last year to support raising a rainbow Pride flag in recognition of Pride Month. A narrow 3-2 council majority initially voted to raise the flag, but Councilmember Jimmy Figueroa later reversed his decision when the item returned for final approval.
“We still don’t have the votes to raise the rainbow flag,” Disposti said. “We deserve better, and I think the mayor and deputy mayor know that.”
Following the proclamation, the North County LGBTQ Resource Center held a press conference and symbolic Pride flag-raising ceremony outside council chambers, where local LGBTQ residents shared their experiences.
Simón Guzman, reproductive rights program manager at the resource center, spoke about his experience as a transgender Latino man living in North County. He recalled how painful it was when Figueroa changed his position on the Pride flag last year.
“It was a difficult thing for me to see as a Latino trans-person who had just come out,” Guzman said.
Guzman said raising the Pride flag serves as a reminder to LGBTQ residents that they belong.
“It’s bigger than these horrible things people say about us – but on top of that, it encourages us to come out, and I think it’s so important to be brave and keep coming out,” Guzman said.
