glendaleOUT Honors Senator Anthony Portantino with Crown Jewel Award
For Immediate Release: August 9, 2023
Contact: Lerna Shirinian, (818) 409-0400
glendaleOUT Honors Senator Anthony Portantino with Crown Jewel Award
Glendale, CA – Senator Anthony J. Portantino (D – Burbank) was honored with the 2023 Crown Jewel Award by glendaleOUT for being an ally of the queer community. The award was presented to the Senator during glendaleOUT’s Rainbow Ride to Pride at Adams Hill Park. Senator Portantino served as the Rainbow Ride’s Grand Marshal.
“I am extremely honored to receive a recognition from glendaleOUT, an organization that works diligently to engender love and respect, and I am proud to be a strong ally of the LGBTQ+ community. I grew up in the 1970’s with a gay older brother and I recall many of the social difficulties and prejudices he faced and I appreciate GlendaleOUT for everything it does to make sure that the contemporary LGBTQ+ co0mmunity has ardent support,” stated Senator Portantino. “I was touched to have been asked to be grand marshal and even more humbled to receive an award. I had a wonderful time during Pride at a time when it’s more important than ever to stand up for LGBTQ+ neighbors and of course young people who are once again facing many of the same mean-spirited pressures that I had thought were long gone.”
glendaleOUT is a grass-roots organization dedicated to building, evolving, and moving forward the queer voice in the narrative of the City of Glendale through political action, community building, and social connection.
"Every year glendaleOUT acknowledges people who have been above and beyond allies to our community with a Crown Jewel Award - a nod to Glendale being the Jewel City,” stated Grey James from glendaleOUT. “This year we selected Senator Portantino for being the only elected official who showed up to our events throughout the year, not just Pride Month for the annual photo opportunity. No special reminder or invitation was ever extended to him; he paid attention to our events and popped in along the way, maintaining his connection with us as his own choice to do so. Because many of us also are cyclists, it was a no-brainer to invite him to be the Grand Marshal of our first annual Rainbow Ride, The Ride to the Pride. We've entered a tough chapter in our collective queer history. It's an important time for all allies, institutions and officials to remain regularly vocal about hate in their communities. Being visibly supportive of the marginalized communities towards which that hate is focused, as Senator Portantino is with his LGBTQIA+ community, is doing just that. We are honored to have him as our Crown Jewel."
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