[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 7477-7478]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       6TH ANNUAL DC LATINO PRIDE

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 18, 2012

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of 
Representatives to join me in recognizing the 6th annual DC Latino 
Pride, the national capital region's celebration of our Latino lesbian, 
gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
  The Washington, DC metropolitan area has had an identifiable Latino 
LGBT community since the early 1960s. However, the community remained 
largely invisible until the first LGBT March on Washington in 1987. DC 
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 DC Latino Pride in 2007.
  It has been both a pleasure and an inspiration to watch DC Latino 
Pride grow from a panel discussion held 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 DC Latino Pride's 2012 theme: ``History, 
Celebration, Identity, and Diversity.''
  The volunteers who staff the Latino LGBT History Project and who are 
organizing DC Latino Pride also embody the 2012 theme.

[[Page 7478]]

This year's organizers include: David M. Perez, the president of the 
Latino LGBT History Project and the Director of Development for the 
League of United Latin American Citizens; Jose Gutierrez, a member of 
Mayor Vincent Gray's LGBT Advisory Council and a member of La Clinica 
del Pueblo community health center; Mannuel Cosme, treasurer of the 
Latino LGBT History Project and CFO of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of 
Commerce; Jorge Andres Sotos, secretary of the Latino LGBT History 
Project and a civil rights attorney in private practice; Esther 
Hidalgo, a manager at Leslie Cashen Photography and a Library and 
Archives Assistant at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land. The 
2012 Latino Pride co-chairs are Sergio Lopez and Oskar Moran, who work 
for, respectively, the People for the American Way and the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration's Aeronautics Research Mission 
Directorate-Aviation Safety Program Office. The 2012 Development Chair, 
Raul Olivo, is the immediate past co-chair and parade manager, and is a 
health educator and advocate for Transgender Health Empowerment.
  I ask the House to join me in recognizing the 6th annual DC Latino 
Pride, welcoming all those who will attend, and congratulating the 
volunteers for work well done.

                          ____________________