Mesquite Mayor issues two proclamations

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

Mesquite Mayor Al Litman issued two official proclamations during a city council meeting on Tuesday evening, June 11.

The first was a proclamation of a day to celebrate Juneteenth in Mesquite as June 19, 2024.
Litman read this proclamation in the meeting to a large crowd assembled. It talked about Juneteenth being a commonly held commemoration of June 19, 1865 when Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas with Union troops and announced the end of both the Civil War and slavery in the U.S.

“Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and celebrates the success gained through education and greater opportunity,” the proclamation stated. “On a larger scale, celebration of Juneteenth reminds each of us of the American Constitution with the precious promises of freedom, equality and opportunity which are at the core of the American Dream.”

Coming forward to accept the proclamation was Barbara Acrie who has lived in Mesquite since 1994.
Acrie thanked Litman for the recognition. “We hope to do you proud as a city and as a community,” she said.
Acrie also announced that a special Juneteenth BBQ would be held on Wednesday June 19 at Hafen Park beginning at 1 pm. All are invited.

The second proclamation declared the month of June as Pride Month in Mesquite.
The document recognized the month as “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, plus (LGBTQIA+) Pride Month.”

The celebration commemorates the Stonewall Riots that occurred in June of 1969, the proclamation states. These are “widely recognized as the catalyst of the LGBTQIA+ rights movement over 50 years ago,” the proclamation adds.

“This nation was founded on the principle that every individual has infinite dignity and worth, causing the City to call upon the people of this municipality to embrace this principle and work to eliminate prejudice everywhere it exists,” Litman read from the document.

Accepting the proclamation was Dana Long, the founder and president of local LGBT nonprofit Love-Family.
Long pointed out that LGBT youth are “still dying at an alarming rate” and “we need to do better.”
Long said that the LGBT community “still faces discrimination both in outright ways and in very subtle ways.”

“If you don’t know someone in the queer community, I encourage you to get to know us,” Long added. “We are church-goers, we are leadership at work, we contribute to this community and without us you don’t have an entire community.”