City to Consider Pride Support in Lieu of Festival

In the absence of what would have been Glendale’s first-ever pride fest, the City Council may vote in the future to designate June as the city’s pride month and emblazon City Hall with rainbow lighting in observance of it.
Councilman Dan Brotman brought forth the motion to consider the designation at this week’s meeting, and Councilwoman Paula Devine joined him by seconding it. Brotman said he had previously spoken with the organizations — including glendaleOUT, Equality Armenia and the Gay and Lesbian Armenian Society — which were planning the pride fest.
“It was expected to be an exciting and groundbreaking event for Glendale — originally scheduled for the end of this month in Central Park — but sadly as you know it had to be canceled because of COVID-19, so the group has been working to try to reimagine the event to fit the current circumstances and they have a proposal they would like us to support,” Brotman said Tuesday.
Additionally, the resolution put forth by those collective groups calls upon the city to support a social media campaign at the end of the month to highlight pride month.
“As the father of a nonbinary child — somebody who is in a long-term relationship with a transgender man — I know how marginalized and vulnerable this community feels in general and especially within Glendale sometimes,” Brotman explained, “so I think it’s very, very important we do everything we can to support these requests.”
The City Council also made a number of appointments at Tuesday’s meeting.
Councilman Ara Najarian will serve on the Burbank Glendale Pasadena Airport Authority for the remainder of a term that ends May 31, 2021, and also as an alternate member to the California Contract Cities Association board. Councilman Ardy Kassakhian will serve on the Metropolitian Water District board and also the Contract Cities Association board. Brotman will serve as an alternate to the Eco-Rapid Transit board. Rafi Manoukian, the city’s treasurer and a former councilman, will serve on the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy advisory committee.
The City Council next meets in a special study session at 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 12, and again later that day at meetings beginning at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.