Civil rights group declares LGBTQ+ state of emergency, days before Sacramento Pride Festival
SACRAMENTO -- The Sacramento Pride Festival added private security this year to the weekend festival held on Sacramento's Capitol Mall in direct response to a national emergency against LGBTQ+ Americans.
The Human Rights Campaign, the largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer civil rights organization, declared the state of emergency for the first time in its more than two-decade history this week. It comes after a number of discriminatory laws throughout the country that, "have created increasingly hostile and dangerous environments for LGBTQ+ people," according to the HRC release on the declaration.
There are more than 75 anti-LGBTQ+ bills signed into law in 2023, more than double 2022's number, which was previously the highest on record, according to the HRC.
"This is not a moment just to put up rainbow flags and come out and march. This is a moment to make clear where all of us stand, because the majority of Americans do not support these extremist attacks on our lives," said Kelley Robinson, President of the Human Rights Campaign.
The Sacramento Pride Festival plans to have 15-20,000 attendees at the event over two days, held on Capitol Mall. Added private security will be in place this year, alongside support for the event by Sacramento Police.
Sacramento Police Department tracks bias crimes in the city year to year. In March of 2021, SPD changed the way bias-related incidents were documented, tracked, and investigated. Which led to a "substantial" increase in the way bias crime data existed, compared to pre-2021.
"We're not letting the rhetoric get ahold of us telling us not to put on these kind of events," said Priya Kumar, Marketing and Communications Manager for the Sac Pride Center.
Kumar said the uptick could be contributed to national rhetoric or amplified social media awareness about hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community.