National City Mayor Alejandra Sotelo-Solis, members of National City council and city staff gathered on June 7 to hoist the LGBTQ+ progress flag outside City Hall for the second year in a row.
“This is herstory, history and theirstory and I’m proud to be here with allies to bring value, give acknowledgement and share love in our community,” Sotelo-Solis said before raising the symbolic flag.
Designed by Danial Quasar in 2018, the LGBTQ+ flag includes five colored chevrons which he added to the original rainbow flag in honor of marginalized communities, pointed in a forward facing position to represent growth and momentum in diverse communities.
“Diversity is more than just carrying a card in a pocket. It means taking action and yes, this is a symbol on City Hall. However, it’s a symbol people can identify with as we acknowledge our diverse community. People don’t realize how diverse National City is until you truly look at the statistics,” Sotelo-Solis said.
City Council member Jose Rodriguez said National City is the most diverse city in all of San Diego county and symbolic gestures like raising the LGBTQ+ flag are important but the city must continue to do more internally to include a wide range of voices.
Incrementally, changes are being implemented, Sotelo-Solis said, although they are not always glaringly obvious. For example, she said, speaker slips now include a pronoun choice so city council members know how to appropriately address anyone wanting to give input on record at public meetings.
“We’re trying to provide support for those who need it, whether it is with the Parks and Rec services we offer after school, to making sure our streets are safe so anyone can get to and from school. It means having a functioning balanced budget at City Hall so we can fund programs that benefit marginalized communities,” Sotelo-Solis said.
It is important, the mayor said, to include people of all backgrounds in city leadership roles so a city councilmember can openly say they are bisexual or a Black-Mexican-American elected official gets needed support.
“We’ve also made a very concerted effort to look at how we conduct recruiting efforts in our community. We hired our first female firefighter in over 35 years and I’m also pushing a youth Fire Explorer program like we have Police Explorers because that’s how we get feeders into our programs,” Sotelo-Solis said.
Progress is constantly evolving, a moving target and that forward momentum symbolized on the LGBTQ+ flag must also include room to fail and room to grow, the mayor said.
Although members of the LGBTQ community including philanthropic organization Imperial Court de San Diego Emperor Karen Stone and Rainbow Spaces Executive Director Nadia Kean-Ayub were present for Tuesday’s flag raising, the business community, non-profit organizations and other philanthropic groups must get involved year-round, Sotelo-Solis said.
“Right now, we have Roe v. Wade at the forefront of the Supreme Court which deals with reproductive rights but the secondary conversation is how it will play out with marriage equality. The flag is a beautiful recognition of all the struggles that have happened in the past, our rights, our bodies, our choices, our engagement and how others perceive us,” Sotelo-Solis said.
Coming up on July 9, the city will be participating in the San Diego PRIDE celebration for the second time.
“That is truly one of the most beautiful days. I mean you get to see such diversity: people on wheels, people with doggies, people who are very colorfully painted. Being that this is our second time participating, it means a lot to people to show they can represent National City and represent their pride as part of that continues,” Sotelo-Solis said in an excited tone.
Although the original rainbow flag, designed by Gilbert Baker for San Francisco’s Gay Freedom Day Parade in 1978 is now housed in a museum, National City’s own LGBTQ+ flag will continue to fly outside city hall, with the building itself lit by rainbow lights every evening throughout the month of June.
