With just 50 days until Pride by the Beach, San Diego County’s first Pride festival of the season, Director Lisa Nava announced the selection of Dr. Julie A. Vitale, Superintendent for Oceanside Unified School District, as their keynote speaker.
Dr. Vitale will share her address on June 11 at the Main Stage in downtown Oceanside.
In selecting Vitale, Nava emphasized Vitale’s long track record of centering and advocating for students and being especially vocal for the LGBTQ community within the Oceanside school system.
Under Vitale’s leadership, the school board instituted a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Department; raised the pride flag at district offices; partnered with the North County LGBTQ Resource Center for staff training on inclusion; and was instrumental in the creation of the inaugural “Lead with Pride Summit,” sponsored by the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA), taking place at the end of April, where she will serve as conference chair. This conference is a first of its kind to focus on creating safe and affirming spaces for LGBTQIA+ students and staff.
Vitale indicated she wants youth to know who they are and be celebrated for it because, “I want them to know that at 15, and 12 and 10 and not wait until they’re 30, 40, 50 or never,” Vitale said.
About Pride by the Beach
The North County LGBTQ Resource Center hosts Pride by the Beach at Civic Central Plaza in Oceanside and serves the 13 cities and various community of North County San Diego. The resource center also provides behavioral and mental health services, HIV testing and PReP navigation services, youth leadership and professional development, COVID vaccination and immunization outreach, provides resources to the transgender community, facilitates peer support groups, coordinates business networking, and seeks to provide support to youth at risk of experiencing homelessness through their novel Unicorn Homes Program.
“Together 2022” is the theme of the festival, which will be the first in-person Pride celebration in Southern California since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The annual celebration is the largest family friendly and sober-promoting event in the region (no alcohol or tobacco sponsored product or corporations), which annually attracts ten thousand people.
Food and local business vendors, local artists, singers, DJs, drag queens, a dog show, and more are planned for this year’s celebration.
Details at: Pride by the Beach | Oceanside, CA
