the pride
ISSUE NUMBER 71, VOLUME 42 | JANUARY 7 – JANUARY 20, 2022 01.07.2022 – 01.20.2022
WWW.THEPRIDELA.COM
LOS ANGELES
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THE LOS ANGELES LGBT NEWSPAPER
Out Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia Announces Run for the U.S. House Garcia would be the first openly LGBTQ+ immigrant and the second openly LGBTQ+ Latino elected to Congress By TimoThy michael Gay Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia announced that he would be running for an open seat for the U.S. House. Garcia made the announcement via Twitter stating: “Hey everyone, I’m running for Congress. My mom brought me to this country when I was 5. She risked everything so that I could succeed. Every single kid deserves the same shot that this country has given me.” Garcia, who lost both his mother and stepfather to COVID-19, made his announcement one day after veteran Long Beach Democratic Rep. Alan Lowenthal said he will not seek reelection. Garcia celebrated his 44th birthday on December 2 and is an openly gay Latino
originally from Peru. First elected to the city council in April 2009 to much fanfare as the council’s youngest, first Latino male, and first gay person of color. He became Long Beach’s first gay mayor in 2014 with 52.1% of the vote. Garcia is married to political science professor Matthew Mendez Garcia and if he is elected to fill the seat in the U.S. House, he would be the first openly LGBTQ+ immigrant and the second openly LGBTQ+ Latino elected to Congress — and the first LGBTQ+ Latino elected to Congress from California. Currently, Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus Chair and U.S. Rep. David Cicilline, (D-RI), is the only out LGBTQ former mayor ever elected to the U.S. Congress. U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, (D-NY), is the only out LGBTQ Latinx person ever elected to the body. Garcia’s statewide and national profile rose during the COVID-19 pandemic with Long Beach being called a “model for vaccine rollout” in California by the New York Times. Long Beach was the first city in California to vaccinate educators, which led to Long Beach Unified reopening schools before most other districts in the state. Long Beach was also the first city in California to vaccinate 99% of its senior population. Equality California, the nation’s largest
Photo: Facebook
statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, was the first group to endorse Garcia for Congress. “Mayor Garcia has shown throughout his nearly 13 years in elected office that he has the skill, tenacity and compassion to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ people and the diverse communities to which we belong,” Equality California Executive Director Tony Hoang said in a statement. “From creating one of the country’s most comprehensive responses
to the COVID-19 pandemic to establishing transgender-inclusive healthcare coverage in the City of Long Beach, he has been there for our LGBTQ+ community and for all Californians. We need a leader like him in Congress, and we’re prepared to do everything in our power to ensure he is elected in 2022.” The primary election will be June 7 and the top two finishers will advance to the general election on Nov. 8.
Hollywood Star and Gay Icon Betty White Dies at 99 White dies peacefully in her Brentwood home By TimoThy michael Hollywood Star and gay icon Betty White died peacefully in her Brentwood home in West LA on December 31st. She was just a few weeks away from her 100th birthday, which she would have celebrated on 17 January, and was vibrant and energetic right to the end. White’s agent and close friend Jeff Witjas confirmed the news. “Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever,” he said. “I will miss her terribly and so will the animal world that she loved so much. I don’t think Betty ever feared passing because she always wanted to be with her most beloved husband
Allen Ludden. She believed she would be with him again.” White’s career spanned nine decades and is best known for starring on shows such as The Mary Tyler Moore Show (in the ’70s) and The Golden Girls (in the ’80s). However, in 1952, she appeared in the I Love Lucy-like Life with Elizabeth, a show she also produced. She was revered in Hollywood and around the world for her sharp wit and warmth, and was passionate about human and animal rights. In 2010 she came out in support of LGBT+ rights and equal marriage, telling Parade magazine: “I don’t care who anybody sleeps with. If a couple has been together all that time – and there are gay relationships that are more solid than some heterosexual ones – I think it’s fine if they want to get married. “I don’t know how people can get so antisomething. Mind your own business, take care
Betty White Dies at 99, see page 6
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