PolicyWise commemorates Pride Month (Episode 24) as hosts Mehek Kandru and Demetria Wack interview Kingsburg City Councilmember Jewel Hurtado, who earlier this year proposed that the city recognize Pride Month and fly the Pride flag.
“I just kind of went in knowing that this might not pass,” said Hurtado. “But what I do know is that it’s going to set a light on issues that a lot of our small rural communities in our Central Valley face and that is that we do not have a safe place for us to just be authentically real and ourselves.”
The proposal did not pass, but she is encouraged that advocating for the LGBTQ+ community has allowed others to stand up, start groups and bring resources to the city.
Hurtado, who identifies as bi-sexual, was elected to the Kingsburg City Council in 2018 as a 20-year-old. She is a mother of a special needs child and is transferring to California State University Bakersfield in the fall after receiving her associate degree.
She is also encouraged by her fellow and future young leaders saying, “Young people have a special place in helping create and craft policies that are not only inclusive, but actually are what we really need.”
The PolicyWise podcast is a partnership between Youth Leadership Institute and CA FWD and can be heard on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker Audio, RadioPublic, Pocket Casts and Overcast.
