Editorial Editorial (May 28, 2004)

Gay pride wins out in Los Altos

The Los Altos City Council exhibited its own sense of tolerance Tuesday, when it voted to change its collective mind and declare June 7 Gay Pride Day as well as Tolerance Day at the request of the Gay-Straight Alliance club at Los Altos High School, which serves Mountain View and Los Altos students.

The council made the rare about-face after about a dozen political activists and gay rights activists attended the meeting to protest its earlier decision to substitute Tolerance Day for the requested Gay Pride Day. The switch did not sit well with students at the school, who said they simply wanted to be recognized one day out of the year.

Alison Tarbell, president of the Gay-Straight Alliance, told the Voice last week that Tolerance Day "is not what we went to the council trying to accomplish. I don't think it is a negative thing. I just don't think that was our message."

Council member King Lear, who originally supported Gay Pride Day, won permission to add an "emergency item" to the agenda Tuesday, and later spoke in favor of declaring both Tolerance Day and Gay Pride Day on June 7.

Mayor John Moss was one of two votes to change Tuesday. He told the Voice last week that while he was not against Gay Pride Day or homosexuals, he knew many people in Los Altos who considered gays and lesbians "perverts." He said then that he felt establishing a Gay Pride Day could have created a backlash in the community.

Thankfully, the Los Altos City Council had the courage to change course and proclaim June 7 a day of gay pride. Perhaps it is a sign that the citizens of Los Altos are beginning to understand that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is no longer moral or legal.

Today's struggle for gay rights is similar to earlier fights in this country to ban discrimination against minorities in schools and other institutions. It is good to see Los Altos recognize how important, and harmless, it is to grant the students of the Gay-Straight Alliance a special day.

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