Despite being overshadowed by San Francisco’s famously gay Castro District, San Jose and the rest of Santa Clara County has recently taken strides to generate greater visibility for the South Bay LGBT community.
Santa Clara County officials raised the pink, white and blue stripes of the transgender pride flag over San Jose City Hall on March 22, just several months after establishing the Office of LGBT Affairs, making it the first county ever to do either in the United States. San Jose City College also hosted its own Equality Week March 28-31, which included a viewing of the film “Milk” about Harvey Milk, California’s first openly gay elected official, a field trip to the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco, an LGBT resource fair and lectures from LGBT students.