Town mulls banning Pride Month — and replacing it with celebration of oil drilling

The town of Huntington Beach, California is mulling a ban on celebrations centered on women, as well as on Black and LGBTQ Americans.

The Guardian reports that the ban would impact celebrations such as Pride Month in June and Black History Month in February, as it would ban groups commemorating such events from using town property.

Instead, the proposal would replace such events with more "patriotic" celebrations.

Specifically, the Guardian writes that Huntington Beach would promote tributes to "local railroad and surfing history and a monthlong tribute to the discovery of oil in Huntington Beach called Black Gold Jubilee," as well as assorted events commemorating American military victories.

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Natalie Moser, a Huntington Beach city council member who opposes the measure, tells the Guardian that she is displeased that this is what her fellow officials are debating.

“I want Huntington Beach to be seen as a welcoming and inclusive community," she explained. "Instead, we are thrust into this war and I think that this council majority is trying to make a name for itself as a model or symbol of the extreme-right side of that war.”

Dan Kalmick, another council member who is against the measure, tells the publication that the proposal's supporters are engaging in "a hand-wave to distract from the fact that they’re breaking the city."