LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Los Angeles on Friday become one of the first major U.S. cities to recognize Oct. 11 as National Coming Out Day.
It’s a day that’s meant to promote a safe and inclusive environment where LGBTQ+ people can feel comfortable sharing their true selves.
The date is also the anniversary of the second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in October 1987.
The city of Philadelphia last year also recognized the honorary day.
Resources can be found on the Human Rights Campaign website.
The nonbinding proclamation comes as the country faces a record amount of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. The ACLU tracked more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in state legislatures in the 2024 legislative session.
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“Even in California, which is widely seen as a very, very liberal state, we are seeing real incidents of anti-gay, anti-queer, anti-trans rhetoric that has been very surprising,” said Los Angeles City Council Member Nithya Raman. “We want to make sure that we have spaces where people feel accepted, where people feel safe, and I think this is a real moment of concern for us.”
National Coming Out Day was founded in 1988 by LGBTQ+ activists Jean O’Leary and Robert Eichberg, marking the first anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in the early throes of the AIDS epidemic.
Throughout the LGBTQ+ rights movement, Los Angeles has been the backdrop to several historic moments, including the founding of The Black Cat, a gay bar that first opened its doors in 1966 at a time when same-sex relations were criminalized in California.
Shortly after its opening, the venue and its clientele were targeted in a violent New Year’s Eve police raid that prompted hundreds to protest in the days following anti-LGBTQ+ violence and discrimination. This establishment and its history predate the iconic Stonewall Uprising in New York and it is often upheld as a symbol of progress in the ongoing struggle for LGBTQ+ rights, bar co-owner Lindsay Kennedy told ABC News.
