Oakland issued its first LGBTQ+ Pride proclamation in 2023 after Oakland resident Carlos Esquivel reached out to Town Manager Elise Hui. She told VoxPopuli in a phone interview that he’d expressed some disappointment that there wasn’t much support for its LGBTQ+ residents. Hui researched LGBTQ+ history and created the proclamation. It was unanimously approved by the five sitting commissioners at the time — then-Mayor Kathy Stark, Joseph McMullin, Rick Polland, Sal Ramos and Satterfield.

Hui said there was some concern about potentially being ineligible for an infrastructure grant the town had recently applied for because of the newly introduced HB 1557, known as the Parental Rights in Education bill (known more colloquially as "Don’t Say Gay"), that had banned discussion about LGBTQ+ topics in schools until a court settlement in March 2024 nullified the ban on LGBTQ+ topics, provided they were not a part of formal instruction. 

Oakland issued the proclamation anyway. 

“You know, the year before we had actually not been funded, and we hadn't done a proclamation so that was kind of my viewpoint," Hui said. "So I don't think there's a correlation. Therefore we went ahead and did it."

Hui said the proclamation is “something we do to support our residents and as long as I’m here and the commission is supportive, we’ll continue to do it.” 

The Trump administration has worked to scrub all traces of DEI from federal sites, which includes LGBTQ+ history and important LGBTQ+ figures. The Supreme Court upheld President Trump’s ban on transgender service members on May 6, with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth later commenting that there are “no more trans @ DoD” on X. Hegseth continued his fight against LGBTQ+ history on the first day of Pride Month by ordering the Navy to rename the USNS Harvey Milk — a ship named after the late gay activist, Navy veteran and first openly gay politician elected to public office in California as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Despite federal and state efforts to eliminate LGBTQ+ related histories and events, Hui said that Oakland has not faced any backlash regarding its 2025 LGBTQ+ Pride Month proclamation. 

“I’m proud of Oakland being the only local town that does the pride proclamation,” Joy Hartzler Wolff, an Oakland resident, commented on a VoxPopuli post in the Oakland Residents Facebook group that asked what people thought about the proclamation. “I celebrate diversity. We are all one, but we are all different, and I love it.”

“I love living in a town where it’s clear that everyone is welcome,” echoed Oakland resident Vanessa Lane Picariello, on the same thread. 

Several others posted simply, “AGREED.” 

Although not everyone agreed. “Why do we have a pride month?” demanded Oakland resident Jan Holzworth on the same thread. “Why do we not have a heterosexual month? Why do we have to celebrate someone’s sexual choice?” 

Holzworth noted that she has family who are gay who she loves but still doesn’t “accept their choice.” Overall, she posted, she believes “this Pride bs has gotten totally crazy. Why do they think we should celebrate it?”

Dylan Hellebrand, shared in an email to VoxPopuli why recognizing Pride is important to him as a resident. Hellebrand pointed to the murder of “King of the Hill” actor Jonathon Joss on June 1, the first day of Pride Month, to illustrate how homophobic rhetoric can escalate into hate crime. The alleged murderers had screamed anti-gay slurs at Joss and his husband, then killed their dog and left its head in their front yard. He believes it’s essential to continue to show up and celebrate self acceptance and solidarity in community in the face of hate. 

“I have struggled with accepting myself my entire life, and to see the town I live in prove that they care about people like me makes me feel seen and heard,” Hellebrand wrote in his email. “There are those who are against it, simply due to the fact that they just can’t let people who don’t look, sound, or love like them exist. I hope one day they will come to their senses, but until then, my community exists and will always exist, and I’m grateful for the Town of Oakland for its Pride Proclamation.”

Megan Montgomery, who teaches yoga in Oakland and said she lives "an openly inclusive lifestyle" and makes "choices to honor my morals with the understanding that not everyone shares those feelings," emailed VoxPopuli to express support for the proclamation.

She wrote, "Sometimes the world can feel so big, what helps is finding the small moments of support, especially in your own community. For the Town of Oakland to acknowledge their queer community and display Mayor Taylor's official Proclamation, shows an outward commitment to valuing the diversity of its residents, friends, families, and neighbors. To some it may not seem like much, but to others it stands as a reminder that their life has value."