Each July, eyes focus on District Three as we host the city’s largest civic event, San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Pride. We come together as a community to celebrate our commonalities as LGBT people and the diversity we bring to the San Diego region.

I will participate in my 16th Pride weekend this year and will be reflecting on all that has happened since my first Pride experience. From watching the Pride Parade as a newly-out young adult, to walking the route with Congresswoman Susan Davis and to now marching as your councilmember, I always get something new out of the experience.

Last year, I was joined on the parade route by six of my colleagues on the City Council as well as Independent Budget Analyst Andrea Tevlin, City Clerk Liz Maland and many staff members. It set a record for parade attendance by city leaders. This year, I am proud to bring back together a strong parade contingent from the City of San Diego.

Marching together in the Pride Parade is a visible way to show all San Diegans that the Council may disagree on policy issues, but we are united in our support for LGBT equality. Importantly, our stand for equality isn’t limited to an annual parade. The City of San Diego has taken stands on critical issues, including supporting the repeal of the discriminatory Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, the creation of a state holiday honoring Harvey Milk, decrying the passage of Proposition 8 and demanding equal pay for equal work by extending domestic partner benefits to city contractors.

This year, the city is further embracing our responsibility to educate and inform our neighbors by hosting the inaugural exhibit, “A Celebration of San Diego LGBT History,” which showcases 1,100 square feet of historical LGBT community treasures in the lobby of City Hall. Sharing these pieces of history with our neighbors, visitors and city employees that will traverse the lobby during the exhibit makes me proud as a gay man, as a councilmember and as a San Diegan. Members of our LGBT family have contributed great things to our region. Those achievements and our collective efforts and triumphs for civil rights are impressive and worthy of greater recognition to ensure our movement forward continues.

As our Pride celebration has grown from a small parade to a month of events spanning the entire county, both festive and commemorative in nature, minds have been opened and progressive ideas have become more mainstream.

As I write this, our community nervously awaits a decision from the U.S. District Court about Proposition 8’s legality. The issue of marriage equality will again color this year’s Pride weekend. I look forward to the delivery of justice. I hope it comes soon and I am buoyed by my faith and knowledge that we have the capacity and drive to continue our fight for fairness, on this front and others. We will win because more of our neighbors than ever before understand that injustice for one means injustice for all.

The foundation of Pride is acceptance. Acceptances of self, of others, and of beliefs that help broaden perspectives and strengthen communities. This has been one of the greatest benefits of our local Pride events over the years. This year’s theme, “One World, One Heart, One Pride,” appropriately reflects the importance of unification and collaboration.

I encourage each and every reader to remember the importance of Pride and to embody the theme year-round. Happy Pride to one and all!