Today we walk further into 2021 with cautious optimism. A renewed sense of hope has washed over us. Since yesterday LGBTQ people in our country have been elevated with dignity and respect by the Biden administration. In just those brief hours an openly bisexual performing artist and LGBTQ advocate, Lady Gaga, sang our National Anthem with pride at the inauguration, Biden signed an executive order reinforcing that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act indeed extends protections to our LGBTQ community, Secretary of Defense nominee Lloyd Austin affirmed that transgender people will be allowed to serve in our military, and our country’s first openly gay cabinet nominee, Pete Buttigieg, testified at his Senate confirmation hearing introducing his husband during his opening statement. Today is a new day.
The renewed sense of hope we have, that our community, love, lives, and lived experiences are finally being recognized, must serve us as fuel to act, not reason to rest. What we are now witnessing is the culmination of generations-long action, activism, and advocacy. What we must not forget is that we have just lived through a ferocious testing of our democracy that survived because of our history of collective resolve to act, to organize, and to look divisive oppression in the face without fear. We must continue to lift up that legacy if we are to foster a future free of prejudice and bias for all LGBTQ people locally, nationally, and globally.
This is why our 2021 theme is “Resilient.” Throughout the year our programs, events, education, and messages will focus on the ways in which our community and movement can restore, rebuild, redeem, and revive one another. That as we reimagine a free and fearless future we are intentional about the resiliency we are weaving into our work. That as we tend to the issues impacting our LGBTQ communities around the world, we also remember to be healthy and whole. Brighter days lie ahead. Together in Pride, we are Resilient.
With Pride,
Fernando Zweifach López
Pronouns: They/Them/Theirs
Executive Director
San Diego Pride
Fernando Lopez is the Executive Director of San Diego Pride. Lopez’s years of LGBT advocacy, nonprofit management, public education, diversity consulting, media relations, guest lectures, and organizing have made them a consistent presence ensuring the struggles of the LGBT community are ever visible.
