Equality Plaza has become Long Beach’s symbol of acceptance and growth. The first park named after slain civil rights activist and openly gay elected politician Harvey Milk, the Harvey Milk Promenade has for the past four years honored local leaders who carry out Milk’s spirit of activism.
This year local leaders Pat Crosby of Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride, Ron Sylvester chairman emeritus of The Center, Denise Penn editor of BiMagazine, and posthumously former president of the Long Beach Lambda Democratic Club, Paul Self, will be honored on May 19.
“[The park] honors and recognizes the legacy of the LGBTQ movement in Long Beach … at a time when many in the LGBTQ community have felt like second class citizens,” said Sylvester, via email. “This park says that our hard work in the City of Long Beach is recognized and respected as equally as all the others.”
Sylvester was on the board of directors of The Center Long Beach for seven years. He lead The Center through one its most transformative periods in its recent history. He has served on the board of directors for the Entertainment AIDS Alliance, an organization that raises funds for smaller AIDS organizations. These days, he serves on the board of directors for APLA Health and Wellness which operates The Long Beach Health Center, providing free and low cost primary care to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning or queer community.
Penn agrees.
“[Equality Plaza] is a reminder, that long beach is an inclusive place,” Penn said. “The park has a soap box replica used by Harvey Milk, it is an important part of what Harvey Milk inspired people to do, to get up and stand up locally for what they believe in.”
Penn is the editor of BiMagazine, a news outlet focused on advocating greater understanding and visibility of bisexuality, she was the producer and host for 12 years of the award-winning weekly live cable television program, The Gay & Lesbian News Magazine, which served the Long Beach LGBTQ community. She is also one of the original columnists for The Long Beach Post and as a journalist, her coverage on hate crimes became a part of congressional records.
Crosby believes the induction to the park is in tandem with the times.
“It means that the City of Long Beach recognizes Harvey [Milk] and what he signifies, which for me, he is very important because he was an alt person who broke barriers in politics much like is being done today throughout the country,” Crosby said. “There are a lot of criteria [to be honored] and [the park as well as the awards] recognize the life of Harvey Milk…. It is the first Harvey Milk Park in the state.”
Crosby is president emeritus of Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride and a member for more than 20 years she has been involved with the Signal Hill Historical Society and Old Lesbians Organizing Change. A member of the selection committee, Crosby has been involved with the the establishment of the park as well as its outreach into the community.
She proudly acknowledges her contributions.
“I’ve made difference because everything I do has been to help other people be able to be who they are, all the time, 100 percent,” she said.
She would like to continue working with The Center and the transgender community.
The former president of Long Beach Lambda Democratic Club, Paul Self, also is being honored posthumously for his political and social activism within the LGBTQ community of Long Beach.
Honorees are commemorated on plaques upon a memorial wall alongside a replica of Milk’s soapbox, a 20-foot flagpole flying the LGBTQ pride flag, and a mosaic mural saved from destruction from the old Long Beach Municipal Auditorium.
The ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. May 19 at Equality Plaza, on 3rd Street near Pine Avenue in Long Beach.