California State Assembly Declares August ‘Transgender History Month’

The California State Assembly has voted to formally acknowledge August as “Transgender History Month,” starting in 2024. The decision, which handed on Wednesday, makes California the primary state within the United States to have a month that formally acknowledges the historical past and contributions of transgender folks.

Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), the invoice’s writer, stated, “I couldn’t be more proud to have introduced legislation that will designate August as the first statewide Transgender History month in the nation.”

He continued, “I believe that as Californians our strongest defense against the anti-trans agenda is just to tell the truth. Let’s tell the truth about transgender people’s lives, and let’s lift up the history of the transgender Californians who left their mark on our great state.”

The resolution, launched by Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), says:

WHEREAS, The suppression of gender variance amongst indigenous California cultures by Spanish and later Anglo settlers was a foundational occasion of the historical past of the state …

WHEREAS, The social fluidity of Gold Rush-era California attracted numerous individuals who lived transgender lives within the mid-Nineteenth century …

WHEREAS, San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood has been often known as a residential district for transgender folks because the second half of the Nineteenth century …

WHEREAS, The month of August has specific significance to the trans group as it’s the month when the Compton’s Cafeteria Riots are commemorated. One of the primary LGBT civil rights rebellion within the United States, the Compton’s Cafeteria Riots passed off in August of 1966 in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District, which has now been designated because the world’s first transgender cultural district; and
WHEREAS, Supporting the transgender group by designating August as Transgender History Month will create a tradition led by analysis, schooling, and scholarly recognition of the contributions of transgender Californians to our nice state’s historical past, and can educate future generations of Californians on the significance of this historical past; now, subsequently, be it

Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the Assembly declares the month of August of every yr as Transgender History Month; and be it additional

Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this decision to the writer for acceptable distribution.

An announcement by the Democratic legislators behind the decision declared:

Every August hereafter can be recognized in California as Transgender History Month. California has lengthy been on the forefront of the transgender liberation motion. But transgender and gender-nonconforming Americans are being politicized and dehumanized in latest tradition wars and their contributions to the historical past of the United States are being erased.

Jorge Reyes Salinas, communications director for Equality California, was quoted by CBS News as saying: “Especially now, in a time that we are seeing a constant, week-after-week attacks against the LGBTQ+ community, especially the transgender community. … [Transgender History Month is] really a reminder that California stands behind the trans community and now more than ever we are not giving up on reinforcing that value.”