Valley LGBTQ Veterans Memorial to receive state designation
AB 2439 is a piece of potential legislation which would designate Cathedral City’s LGBTQ Veterans Memorial as the state’s official LGBTQ memorial.
AMVETS Commander Thomas “Tom” Swann Hernández and officials from the Palm Springs Cemetery co-hosted an event discussing the progress of the bill today at noon at the American Legion Hall at 400 N. Belardo Rd. in Palm Springs.
The memorial, which resides at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, would become the nation’s first state-designated LGBTQ Veterans Memorial if AB 2439 passes.
Cathedral City Councilmembers Shelley Kaplan and Mark Carnevale were in attendance. Cathedral City has endorsed the bill, and just last month it cleared a key legislative hurdle in the California State Senate. Palm Springs Mayor Robert Moon was also in attendance to show his support: “You know, gay people have always been in the military. I know I served in the military for 26 years and for the last 12 of those, I was with my now husband who I’ve been with for 37 years. And it was hard in those days.”
The veterans committed to this legislation say they’re also hoping to one day see an official LGBTQ memorial in Washington D.C. “We have a design, we’re still raising money, we have a long ways to go but we’re trying to get the support of the community to do that too,” said Commander Swann Hernández.
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