Members of the California Assembly voted to declare August as Transgender History Month starting in 2024. The Golden State will be the first state in the country to have a month of the year dedicated to "supporting the transgender community," according to the text of the rule.
The bill presented by Matt Haney, who is also the author, points out that designating August as Trans History Month will "create a culture led by research, education and scholarly recognition of the contributions of transgender Californians to our great state's history, and will educate future generations of Californians on the importance of this history."
20230HR57_99 by Verónica Silveri on Scribd
Democratic lawmakers issued public statements around the state Capitol after the outcome of the bill was announced. They said that "transgender and gender non-conforming Americans are being dehumanized and politicized in recent culture wars." They claim they needed to dedicate a month to create this standard:
Every August hereafter will be known in California as Transgender History Month. California has long been at the forefront of the transgender liberation movement. But transgender and gender-nonconforming Americans are being politicized and dehumanized in the recent culture wars and their contributions to American history are being erased.
Some California cities have already declared August as Transgender History Month
The bill that was just passed in California is something that other cities have already been doing. San Francisco was the first to designate August as Transgender History Month in 2021.
The City of Santa Clara also declared the Transgender History Month in August 2022. According to a press release:
Transgender History Month honors the 56th anniversary of the Compton cafeteria riots, which occurred in August 1966 in San Francisco, marking the beginning of transgender activism as one of the first LGBTQ uprisings in U.S. history.
At the Aug. 16 City Council meeting, the City Council proclaimed the month of August Transgender History Month, honoring the 56th anniversary of the Compton's Cafeteria Riots, and marking the beginning of transgender activism.
Read the FULL proclamation: https://t.co/wvxYDR8VQA pic.twitter.com/MokDoT9NLV
— City of Santa Clara (@SantaClaraCity) August 17, 2022
