RESOLUTION FOR BOARD MEETING OF JUNE 17, 2021
Title
RESOLUTION sponsored by the Board of Commissioners recognizing the month of June as Pride Month (As Revised)
Body
WHEREAS, on June 28, 1969, the New York City Police Department raided the Stonewall Inn, a tavern located in New York City’s Greenwich Village which had been a place of celebration and community for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people for many years; and
WHEREAS, the patrons of the Stonewall Inn, as well as bystanders, responded to the raid with spontaneous acts of civil disobedience that transformed into a larger demonstration of resistance; and
WHEREAS, the uprising at the Stonewall Inn became a catalyst for a developing LGBTQ rights movement; and
WHEREAS, the first Pride celebrations began a year after the Stonewall uprising, as activists marched to commemorate the anniversary of the raid. June would later be selected as Pride Month as a way to pay homage to the incident at Stonewall; and
WHEREAS, Chicago was one of the many cities that began celebrating Pride and the LGBTQ community in 1970, a tradition that has been followed every year since; and
WHEREAS, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (District) Commissioners and staff have participated in Chicago’s Pride celebrations since 2009; and
WHEREAS, the LGBTQ community in Chicago and Cook County have made wide-ranging contributions in numerous fields, ensuring increased equality for future generations of LGBTQ people; and
WHEREAS, in June of 2019, the District raised the Pride flag outside of its Main Office Building for the first time in its history, in honor and recognition of June as Pride Month; and
WHEREAS, on December 7, 2020, Judge Jill Rose Quinn was sworn in as a Cook County Circuit Court Judge, the first openly transgender person elected to the bench in Illinois; and
WHEREAS, on February 3, 2021, Pete Buttigieg was sworn in as the 19th Secretary of Transportation, making him the first openly-gay person to serve as a member of a Presidential Cabinet; and
WHEREAS, on February 6, 2021, Senator Mike Simmons was sworn in as senator of the 7th Senate District in Illinois, making him the first openly-gay member of the Illinois Senate; and
WHEREAS, on June 1, 2021, the District raised the Pride flag outside each of its treatment plants and main office buildings for the first time in its history; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that we, the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, on behalf of ourselves and our staff, do hereby recognize the month of June as Pride Month; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this Resolution be spread upon the permanent Record of Proceedings of the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
Dated: June 17, 2021