A group poses before reading the proclamation in front of the Torrance City Council on Tuesday, June 6, 2023. (Courtesy of Adam Schwartz).
A group of downtown Torrance business owners and residents put together their own declaration after hearing the city would not declare June as Pride Month this year.
The Manifesto was written by a group led by Adam and Isabel Schwartz and is supported by the Downtown Torrance Employers Association (DTA). It was read out during public comment at the city council on Tuesday. Through the declaration, the organization said it wants people who identify as LGBTQIA+ to feel welcome and respected in the city.
“We are asking why, even if the city isn’t actively working to really do the bare minimum, why just do it yourself and let the city’s LGBT community care about you?” I just want to show how I can’t show that there are people, and there are people who are happy to be here,” said Levi Living Legacy, LLC, a downtown real estate investment and management firm. Mr Schwartz said.
Unlike other cities in the area, including Hermosa Beach and Long Beach, Torrance does not sponsor Pride Month events or fly a rainbow flag at City Hall.
But for the past eight years, the city has declared June to be LGBTQIA+ month. But it won’t happen this year after Mayor George Chen rejected a request to declare a Pride Month.
Last year, someone vandalized a decoration outside a downtown mall in honor of Pride Month.
“We have a thriving LGBT+ community here in the South Bay, Torrance in particular, and when people learned that for the first time in over eight years the city of Torrance wouldn’t make a declaration, it affected people,” he said. Isabel Schwartz.
The group has garnered the support of some city officials, commissioners and council members for the declaration, which was unanimously adopted at the DTA meeting in May, but the decision on whether to include it on the council’s agenda is up to the mayor. and the couple. Said.
“That support is here in Torrance. It’s important that our representatives, who are supposed to represent every member of this community, are able to make decisions on behalf of what the community needs and wants. I think,” said Isabel Schwartz.
City councilors Bridget Lewis and Sharon Kalani expressed their support for the proclamation and “just tried to make it happen”, but it was not successful as the final decision rests with the mayor.
According to the Mayor’s Office, the mayor’s office has the right to approve, modify, or deny any declaration request that must be made by a Torrance resident, business, or city employee. city policy.
In an interview before the council meeting, Mayor George Chen defended his decision, saying it was a denial of the declaration and not a public denunciation of LGBTQIA+ people.
“For me, this was a request for a declaration,” the mayor said. “I declined the declaration request because this is a particular lifestyle choice for some people and I respect each person’s personal choice. It is not a declaration. “
But Tiffany Mitchell, owner of Black Raven Tattoo since 2017, said denying the declaration would undermine the progress the city has made over the years to support the LGBTQIA+ community. and said.
Mitchell, who was part of the group that wrote the proclamation, said former Torrance mayor Pat Fury started the tradition of declaring June Pride Month in the city. But for the first time since Fury became Mayor, the city has refused to declare Pride Month.
Members of the group said their aim was not to “humiliate or denigrate” the mayor or city council, but rather to “actively celebrate those who would be ignored during this Pride Month.” It is said that it is the purpose. The organization hopes that elected officials will continue the tradition of declaring Pride Month through their actions.
City Councilwoman Sharon Kalani, whose constituency includes downtown Torrance, said in an interview that she wants people in the city to know that the Torrance she knows is a very inclusive city.
“And it is important that all residents and business owners understand that their voices are being heard, they are being respected, and most importantly, they are being valued. , I encourage everyone to celebrate the things that are important to them,” Kalani said.
But Kalani and Lewis told Breeze after the meeting that they had no plans at this time to turn the discussion into a formal motion to reconsider.
Adam Schwartz’s great-grandfather was one of Torrance’s first businessmen, and his family has been active members of the community for more than 100 years, he said. So Schwartz said it’s especially important to him that people think of downtown Torrance “in a positive light,” even if he’s not part of the LGBTQIA+ community.
“A lot of people have this perception that Torrance is really unacceptable and everyone has to have a certain attitude,” Schwartz said. “But we know that’s not true and we want everyone to feel welcome and happy in Torrance.”
