In a momentous Sacramento City Unified School Board meeting on June 8, the board unanimously passed a resolution recognizing June as Pride month. The very next day, the LGBTQ+ flag waved above the Sacramento City Unified School District's headquarters to honor Pride for the first time.
Representatives from the Stonewall Foundation of Greater Sacramento, Sacramento City Unified School Board members and a student board member, joined Superintendent Jorge Aguilar on Friday to celebrate the win for the LGBTQ+ community with a flag-raising ceremony at the Serna Center.
“We are deeply proud in Sac City of the rich diversity in our district,” Aguilar said. “And that diversity will always extend beyond just race, ethnicity, religion to include our LGBTQ+ students and staff.”
Sacramento City Unified School District Superintendent Jorge Aguilar wears a lapel pin commemorating Pride Month at the Serna Center in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, June 9, 2023.Andrew Nixon / CapRadioThe push for inclusivity in the district came from 16-year-old Liam McGurk who sits as a student school board member. He’s of Filipino and Native American descent and identifies as two-spirit.
“I never felt like a man or a woman,” McGurk explained. “I always feel like there's two pieces of me and two parts of me, and that's exactly what I am — I'm two spirits within one body.”
And while this is a significant initial step, McGurk said that being two-spirit has been a challenge at Hiram Johnson High School.
“There are a few people who still refer to me as ‘she’ and who still are mockingly like, ‘Oh, he is there,’” McGurk said. “I just got to be me and do my own thing.”
The support of the Gay Student Alliance at his campus has been an empowering space, McGurk said, and is ushering in a new era of inclusive spaces in the district.
“I know a lot of other students who may not have felt confident,” McGurk said. “With a whole group of people just being here right beside me, I feel ready to challenge anything and just be ready to be there to support anyone and anyone.”
After the Pride flag was hoisted, he said he felt emotional: “It means a lot more because I'm a person of color, which means I have to struggle and fight a little bit harder.”
11th-grader Liam McGurk holds the Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag at the Sacramento City Unified School District's main office at the Serna Center in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, June 9, 2023.Andrew Nixon / CapRadio
Sacramento City Unified School Board President Chinua Rhodes reminded those present that the LGBTQ+ community has been subject to the margins of society even in California.
“Pride is not just a celebration, but it's a symbol of our unwavering commitment to equity and justice,” he said, underscoring the struggles faced by the queer community.
This is a struggle many school districts are still grappling with. In April, there were outcries against a drag show during an assembly at Elk Grove High School.
This is the second time the Pride flag has been hoisted at the Serna Center, the first being for Trans Day of Visibility in March.
Srishti Prabha is an education reporter and Report For America corps member in collaboration with CapRadio and The Sacramento Observer. Their focus is K-12 education in Sacramento’s Black communities.
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