LOS ANGELES — Throughout Pride Month in June, Spectrum News looks at the progress and persistent challenges facing the LGBTQ communities.
From parades and festivals to educational and cultural events, Pride Month is a time for people to celebrate and honor LGBTQ diversity. But it’s also a time to acknowledge the need for ongoing advocacy and action.
On this week’s “In Focus SoCal,” host Tanya McRae talks with Sen. Caroline Menjivar, who represents California’s 20th District and serves on the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls.
She explained some initiatives the committee is currently working on.
“What we do is to ensure that we uplift and elevate gender issues,” Menjivar said. “For example, a couple of months ago, we did a ‘Habitat for Humanity Women’s Construction Day,’ where we ensure we brought out women and let the world know that we, too, can build houses. We too can be a construction. Other initiatives are around the legislation that we’re going to be supporting and elevating. We go through a process where we look to vote for and champion for legislation that is looking to uplift women. And one of them is related to women in the military, which is close and personal to me because we know as women veterans or women in the military, we sometimes get forgotten. So we want to make sure we elevate issues like that.”
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, since 2017, the number of transgender individuals experiencing homelessness has increased by 57%. While the number of gender non-conforming individuals has increased by 80%. And those numbers are even higher for people of color.
That’s why The TransLatin@ Coalition in Los Angeles has created a unique program that’s providing a haven for people of Latin descent who might have ended up on the street can call home. The Hope House is a five-bedroom refuge in the middle of LA that houses up to 13 people at a time. It’s a place where people in the trans community can find support, take time to heal and become empowered.
It’s been life-saving for trans women such as Sara Reyes, who was beaten and sexually assaulted in her home country of Columbia as she began her gender transition. When she heard about the Hope House, she bought a one-way ticket to LA, and has since grown into her true self.
“For about 10 years of my life. I was trying to find a way to come here,” she said. “If it weren’t for this opportunity, I would definitely not be here. And I’m so grateful for that. I’m so grateful because there is a place that makes you feel at home.”
Since being elected to serve as a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 1st District in 2022, Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez has prioritized her work as a community advocate, investing in community resources, workforce development and social services for all Angelenos.
She explained some of the current city initiatives to promote LGBTQ protections in LA, including $450,000 that will be invested in creating a mini LGBTQ drop-in center for community members.
“And we also made sure that we could invest and push for investments in our recreation and parks department,” she added. “Because oftentimes, these locations are being used as respite for LGBTQI community, especially in the MacArthur Park area. And it also gives opportunities for LGBTQIA young people who are often not given spaces to be, to play, to be free. So we were pushing for LGBTQIA+ programming through our budget advocacy this year, and we were successful in getting many of those things.”
Watch the show every Saturday at 11am and Sunday at 9 a.m., and send us your thoughts to InFocusSoCal@charter.com.