flags & proclamations – Queer Silicon Valley

The month of June holds special meaning for many people because it is known around the world as LGBTQ Pride Month. In San Jose and Santa Clara County, the governing boards issue pride proclamations and raise the rainbow flag, usually at their first meeting in June.

Ken Yeager was the first openly gay councilmember elected to the San Jose City Council in November 2000, taking office January 1, 2001. In June 2001, Yeager asked the city manager and Mayor Ron Gonzales if he could raise the rainbow flag in front of what is now called Old City Hall on Mission Street. They both agreed.

It was the first time the Pride flag was flown there, so there was quite a media event around the flagpole. The Silicon Valley Gay Men’s Chorus sang a moving rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.”

Like city hall before 2001, the rainbow flag had never flown at the County Government Center. That changed in June 2007 when Yeager hoisted the flag after winning election as the first openly gay member of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. Once again, the Silicon Valley Gay Men’s Chorus sang the national anthem.

The flag from that first event in 2001 was framed in a large glass case and hung in Yeager’s office during his time on city council, and later hung outside his door at the county building.

The rainbow flag has flown over the County Government Center during LGBTQ Pride Month every year since 2007. In fact, the rainbow flag has become such an important symbol of the values of the county that when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages in 2013 County Executive Jeff Smith agreed with Supervisor Yeager that it should fly every workday, which it did from that day forward.

On the 6th annual International Transgender Day of Visibility on March 22, 2016, the county raised the Transgender Pride Flag at the County Government Center, making it the first county in the nation to do so. Afterwards, it was decided to fly it under the rainbow flag everyday as well.

After the horrific killings in Orlando, Florida, at the Pulse Night Club, in grief and solidarity the Rainbow and Transgender Pride Flags were flown at half-staff for two days.

The pink, lavender and blue Bisexual Pride flag was raised for the first time at the Santa Clara County Government Center for the first time on September 21, 2017, as part of Bi Week of Visibility.

In 2019, a large coalition of local organizations and residents who stood united to speak out against the future opening of a Chick-fil-A at Mineta San Jose Int’l Airport (SJC) Terminal B. Unable legally reverse the contract with Chick-fil-A, Ken urged the City Council to instead fly the rainbow and transgender flags as powerful symbol signaling that San Jose is a welcoming place to visit and live. The flags would come to serve to counter the discriminatory causes supported by the company and its leadership.

sjc pride flags — Rainbow and transgender flags on display in SJC Terminal B

On March 10, 2021, BAYMEC Community Foundation Executive Director Ken Yeager and members of BAYMEC hoisted the rainbow and transgender flags at SJC Terminal A. The flags, which are now prominently displayed in the Terminal A Baggage Claim, expand on the SJC’s commitment to providing a welcoming environment for those traveling to San Jose.

The installation of the new flag poles in Terminal doubles down on that expression of welcoming and celebration of diversity. In addition to the support of the City Council, SJC Aviation Director John Aitken and Communications Director Vicki Day were essential in showing that San Jose welcomes all LGBTQ+ travelers.

sjc pride flagpoles — BAYMEC Community Foundation Executive Director Ken Yeager, BAYMEC Board President Drew Lloyd, and BAYMEC board members Maureen Heath and Hahn Mo join SJC Aviation Director John Aitken to raise the rainbow and transgender flags in Terminal A

The politically charged story behind San Jose’s Pride proclamation reflects the local struggle for LGBTQ rights and the community’s long fight with the Religious Right.

Although the first U.S. Pride marches and parades were held in June 1970, it wasn’t until 1975 that leaders in San Jose’s LGBTQ community asked then-Mayor Janet Gray Hayes and the city council for a Pride proclamation. It took three more years, but on February 21st, 1978, Hayes, along with Councilmembers Susie Wilson, Al Garza, and Jim Self, approved a resolution declaring the week of June 18, 1978, as Gay Pride Week in San Jose.

The resolution generated tremendous backlash among the city’s conservative Christian population, which was numerous and politically influential. Councilmember David Runyon, absent for the initial vote, called for a reconsideration of the proclamation at the Council’s March 14 meeting.

According to Ted Sahl’s 2002 book, “From Closet to Community,” the LGBTQ community made a valiant effort to mobilize support for the proclamation, with a telephone campaign and more than 200 supporters in attendance March 14. However, they were overwhelmed by the opposition. Approximately 800 Pride proclamation opponents, most from area churches, attended the meeting, and their presence was enough to convince Garza to switch his vote and rescind the proclamation.

The council, including Garza, did agree to issue a proclamation for Gay Human Rights Week, but the LGBTQ community saw it as a defeat.

The 1978 rescinding of San Jose’s Pride proclamation foreshadowed the further resurgence of the Religious Right in San Jose and Santa Clara County. Gay Pride proclamations became politically toxic. When Mayor Hayes ran for re-election that November, her campaign was confronted with a newspaper ad reading: “The recent Gay Pride Week initiated by Mayor Janet Grey Hayes is a perfect example of moral insensitivity and weak leadership.”

In 1980, the Religious Right managed to defeat two ballot measures, A and B, which would have prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment and housing in the city and county. Following those defeats, it became politically dangerous for the mayor and city council to vote for a proclamation supporting a Pride celebration for years.

The full San Jose City Council did not issue a proclamation until Councilmember Ken Yeager proposed it in 2001—23 years after the first attempt to secure this city council recognition.

The situation was better at the county level. In June 1993, then-Supervisor Ron Gonzales introduced a resolution declaring a Lesbian and Gay Pride Week. Similar proclamations have been annually adopted by the Board of Supervisors since then.

Today, getting a city proclamation for an LGBTQ event generates no more controversy than any other cultural celebration in San Jose’s diverse community. It wasn’t always the case, and it’s a reminder not to take such things for granted. What is now routine was once unthinkable, and as long as members of the community stay engaged and committed, we will continue moving forward.

Raising the Rainbow, Transgender, and Bisexual Visibility Flags

23 Years Waiting for a Gay Pride Proclamation