Outside Los Angeles City Hall, a string of balloons hovered in the muggy June air. They were red, yellow, green, purple and blue, the colours of the rainbow, the rainbow theme was is so fitting, recognizable all over the world as a symbol of the unity of the gay community. Flying these the balloons was a simple way to help launch city's first Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Heritage Month.
For years, Los Angeles has honoured other groups, African Americans, Latinos, Asian Pacific Islanders and so on with month long education campaigns and celebrations.
Bill Rosendahl said the designation of June as LGBT Heritage Month is important because gay people, like other minorities, "have an identity that needs to be clearly appreciated." In 2005, coucilman Rosendahl became the first openly gay candidate to run and be elected to the City Council.
He was beaming Friday as he stood up during the council meeting with officials, including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck, to honour several LGBT Angelenos.
For nearly two hours, Rosendahl and his colleagues talked about gay rights, gay representation on the council, AIDS and much more, occasionally sharing personal stories that drew murmurs from an audience that included many LGBT-rights activists.
At one point, Rosendahl thanked Councilman Dennis Zine for once giving him a ride on the back of his Harley-Davidson motorcycle during a gay pride festival in West Hollywood. Zine, he noted to laughter, wore leather and chaps.
At another moment, he teased Councilwoman Jan Perry for having too many gay male friends. Perry sometimes bring gay friends along as dates to events. She is also, she told the council, the godmother of a child who has two fathers.
In one unusually colourful anecdote, Councilman Bernard Parks stood up and relayed the way in which Rosendahl told him he was gay.
It was 1997, and Parks had just been appointed police chief. Rosendahl, then a television show host, called Parks to congratulate him -- and ask about a rumour he had heard.
Rosendahl said he had heard that Parks and then-Mayor Richard Riordan were gay and were dating, and that that is how Parks had gotten his job. Rosendahl said he didn’t mind that Parks was gay because he was gay too.
The rumour was false. But it so surprised the new police chief that the news that Rosendahl was gay hardly seemed shocking, Parks said.
It wasn't all storytelling though. The council on Friday passed several resolutions backing state and federal legislation that calls for LGBT equality, including a state bill that would add questions regarding sexual orientation and gender identity to state demographic surveys.
The meeting took a sombre turn when officials noted the 30th anniversary -- this week -- of the first AIDS cases.
In 1995, Rosendahl lost his partner of 14 years, Christopher Lee Blauman, to complications from AIDS.
Rosendahl said the anniversary, along with the on-going battle for gay civil rights, made Friday's occasion "bittersweet."
"It's all about civil and human rights which we don't have," he said. "We still fight."
That message could be heard in a song performed during the meeting. Members of a female choral group called Vox Femina beat a drum and sang loudly, their voices filling the council chambers.
"We're going to keep walking forward," they cried out. "Never walking back."
thanks to Latimes.com
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