Pride Month is a time to celebrate LGBTQ+ communities and the fight for rights that may be under attack.

Earlier this month, three people were arrested outside a meeting of the Glendale Unified School District Board, where pro- and anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrators faced off over how students were being taught gender and sexuality in the classroom. 

On this week’s “In Focus SoCal,” host Tanya McRae sits down with Tony Hoang, executive director of Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization. Hoang highlighted current state legislation that the organization is sponsoring, including ACA 5 and Senate Bill 857. 

“California is proud to have a really comprehensive legislative package this year,” Hoang said.

Equality California’s Safe and Supportive Schools Report Card program is also working to ensure that California schools are more inclusive of LGBTQ+ students.

“What it aims to do is really grade all the unified school districts in the state of California and how they’re best supporting LGBTQ+ youth,” Hoang added. “And so that ranges from things like anti-bullying policies, suicide prevention policies, LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum, trans inclusive policies. The list goes on and on.”

State Sen. John Laird also joins “In Focus” this week to talk about SB 857, which is aimed to see better results on Equality California’s report cards. The legislation would create an advisory committee statewide, convened by the state superintendent of public instruction, to identify the needs of LGBTQ+ students and to find ways to implant supportive policies and initiatives.  

Laird was a founding member of California’s LGBTQ Caucus in 2002 and was only one of five openly gay legislators. 

“Thee interesting change from the legislative caucus of 2002 to now has been its diversity and its increase in numbers,” Laird said. “When we had five, when I was the only one that wasn’t from an urban area, there were no people of color. And now in the 12, they’re really split between Senate and Assembly.”

Also on this week’s show, we go inside the Tinseltown Squares Dance Club that has been a haven for seniors in the LGBTQ+ community, which has doubled in the U.S. in the last decades. Spectrum News’ Tara Lynn Wagner introduces us to “A Transparent Musical,” created by a queer trans creative team at the Mark Taper Forum.

Send us your thoughts to InFocusSoCal@charter.com and watch at 9 a.m. and noon Sundays.