As it has in previous years, the Cortez City Council last week passed a proclamation declaring June as Pride Month for LGBTQS+ people. This time, however, the proclamation drew objections from two council members.
Mayor Pro Tem Dennis Spruell, who led the meeting because of the mayor’s absence, read a prepared statement in which he said proclamations supporting specific identity groups risk fostering divisions by singling out certain communities for special recognition. “Such proclamations can unintentionally suggest that some entities are more deserving of acknowledgment or protection than others, leading to a slippery slope of identity-based proclamations,” he said.
He said people should live without fear or prejudice, discrimination and hatred, but that he wants to avoid focusing on specific identity groups.
Council member April Randle agreed, saying, “Proclamations and promotions that are specific to certain populations, particularly to sexual orientation, put a focus on division within us and create different categories.”
“ I don’t believe the government has any point in proclaiming one greater than the next,” she said
Randle said she has a grandchild that is “in the process of transition” and “has a significant other of the same sex biologically.”
“I treat all my grandkids equally,” she said. She added that “for me to sit at the dinner table or any other place and declare one grandchild is greater than the other is not right.”
Randle said she does not want to disrespect any specific community but that she doesn’t think “we should raise anyone against or above any other.”
She and Spruell both voted against the proclamation, which passed 4 to 2.
Mayor Rachel Medina, who missed the meeting because of a flight cancellation, told KSJD the council has passed this proclamation nearly every year since she was elected in 2020.
It first passed such a proclamation in 2021, according to reporting in the Four Corners Free Press. The vote was 5 to 0 then. https://fourcornersfreepress.com/a-matter-of-pride-cortez-mancos-pass-proclamations-celebrating-the-lgbtq2s-community/
The measure passed unanimously in 2023, according to council minutes.
June has been selected as Pride Month in places nationwide because of riots that took placed on June 28, 1969, in New York City’s Greenwich Village after police raided a gay club called the Stonewall Inn.
Medina said the proclamation aligns with the city’s desire to be inclusive and have people feel safe, whether they live here, recreate here, or are passing through.
“I don’t think it’s putting one group above another,” Medina said, “just recognizing people who are typically targeted and saying that we value them.”
She pointed out that the city council passes numerous proclamations recognizing different groups and has declared the month of November as Greenlight a Vet month to honor the military.
The Pride Month proclamation begins, “WHEREAS, every person should be able to live without fear of prejudice, discrimination, violence and hatred based on race, religion, gender identity and/or sexual orientation. . .”
It finishes by stating, “NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of Cortez, on behalf of all residents of the City of Cortez, does hereby proclaim June 2025 as Pride Month in the City of Cortez and urges all residents to respect and honor our diverse community, to celebrate and build a culture of inclusiveness and acceptance.”
“It’s just recognizing people’s experiences and diversity and showing support,” Medina told KSJD.
June 16 of next year will make the 25th anniversary of the murder of a gay or transgendered teenager, Fred Martinez, in Cortez. The Farmington man who committed the murder, Shaun Murphy, was paroled in 2019 after serving 17 years of a 40-year sentence. https://fourcornersfreepress.com/fred-martinezs-killer-is-paroled-the-brutal-murder-in-2001-drew-national-attention-to-cortez/
