[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 71 (Thursday, May 17, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E839]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      6TH ANNUAL D.C. LATINO PRIDE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 17, 2012

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of 
Representatives to join me in recognizing the 6th Annual D.C. Latino 
Pride, the national capital region's celebration of our gay, lesbian, 
bisexual and transgender (GLBT) Latino communities.
  The Washington, D.C. metropolitan area has had an identifiable GLBT 
Latino community since the early 1960s. However, the community remained 
largely invisible until 1987, after the first LGBT March on Washington, 
D.C. D.C. Latino Pride's parent organization, The Latino Gay, Lesbian, 
Bisexual, and Transgender History Project, began in 2000. The 
organization grew out of a private archive kept since 1993 by its 
founder, Jose Gutierrez, who in turn organized the first D.C. Latino 
Pride in 2007.
  It has been both a pleasure and an inspiration to watch D.C. Latino 
Pride grow from a panel discussion on the day before the annual Capital 
Pride parade, to this year's series of events between May 20 and June 
7: La Corona, La Platica, La Misa, and La Fiesta. The four events 
incorporate the elements of D.C. Latino Pride's 2012 theme: ``History, 
Celebration, Identity, and Diversity.''
  The volunteers who staff the Latino GLBT History Project and organize 
D.C. Latino Pride also embody the 2012 theme. Its President, David M. 
Perez, is also the Director of Development of the League of United 
Latin American Citizens; Jose Gutierrez works at La Clinica del Pueblo 
and on the Mayor's GLBT Advisory Council; its Treasurer, Mannuel Cosme, 
is the C.F.O of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Secretary; Jorge 
Andres Sotos, is a civil rights attorney in private practice; Board 
Member Esther Hidalgo is a manager at Leslie Cashen Photography and a 
Library and Archives Assistant at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy 
Land; 2012 Latino Pride Co-Chairs Sergio Lopez and Oskar Moran work, 
for People for the American Way and NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission 
Directorate-Aviation Safety Program Office, respectively; Development 
Chair, Raul Olivo, is a manager; and the immediate past Latino Pride 
Co-Chair, is a health educator and advocate for Transgender Health 
Empowerment.
  I ask the House to join me in recognizing the 6th Annual D.C. Latino 
Pride, welcoming all those who will attend, and congratulating the 
volunteers for work well done.

                          ____________________