The Pride Flag was raised above the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration on Tuesday, June 3, as a show of support for the LGBTQ+ community in Los Angeles County.

A ceremony that included hoisting the multi-colored Progress Pride Flag was attended by members of the county’s Board of Supervisors, county leaders and the relatively new LGBTQ+ Commission, which was created by the board and began operating in an advisory capacity to the board just about one year ago.

“Flying the Progress Pride Flag shows the LGBTQ+ community, across all 4,000+ square miles, that you are welcome here, that you are valued, and that we would not be as strong of a county without you,” said Sunitha Menon, the Commission’s executive director. Menon added this year the flag-raising is particularly important “in this time when who we are, and who we love, is being politicized.”

Hector Trinidad-Plascencia, chair of the LGBTQ+ Commission, served as master of ceremonies. Sister Unity and Sister Auntie Mater, members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a nonprofit group consisting of members who dress in drag and identify as “an Order of queer and trans nuns,” gave a blessing. The fundraising group uses drag and religious imagery to satirize issues of sex, gender and morality and in the past has been called offensive by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

The event marked the third year in which the flag was raised over county headquarters. The first time was in 2023. The ceremony and flag-raising through June, Pride month, when many LGBTQ celebrations take place throughout the county, the state, the nation and the world.

While almost 100 bills have been passed by states in opposition to LGBTQ rights, many including only allowing transgender individuals to use restrooms matching their gender assigned at birth, not the gender with which they identify, with others preventing youth from receiving gender-reassignment healthcare, L.A. County has re-emphasized its support of the queer and trans community.

In Los Angeles County, about 665,000 LGBTQ adults live in Los Angeles County, according to recent research from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.

“In the face of ongoing attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community – especially against Black transgender community members who continue to face disproportionately high rates of violence – the raising of the Pride Flag reaffirms our commitment to doing the work to ensure all our residents feel seen and valued,” said Second District Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell.

Lindsey Horvath, supervisor for the Third District on the Westside of L.A., West Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley, home to 211,000 LGBTQ adults, more than any other of the five districts, has led the effort to provide gender-affirming healthcare at county facilities for transgender patients.

“Raising the Progress Pride Flag this year is more than a tradition — it’s a declaration. In a time when LGBTQ+ rights are under attack across the country, Los Angeles County stands firm in our commitment to inclusion, equity, and love,” said Horvath. “Our LGBTQ+ residents have to know that their county government and those of us who have been elected to lead it unequivocally and unapologetically have their backs.”