(Photo from City of Mount Dora’s Facebook)
MOUNT DORA, Fla. | In a historic moment for Mount Dora’s LGBTQ community, the city council members signed a proclamation on June 1 that made it the first and only city in Lake County to formally recognize June as LGBTQ Pride month.
Danielle Olivani, founder and president of Lake County Pride, is the Mount Dora resident who helped make this possible. She approached Cathy Hoechst, the Mayor of Mount Dora, in May with the initial idea for a new proclamation.
Olivani, a New York native who’s been a resident of the city for over 17 years, said that the signing of the proclamation means the world to her and that she hopes it provides a sense of safety and security for the LGBTQIA+ community in Mount Dora.
“It fills me with hope for the entire community. Once we accomplished the Proclamation, I immediately began to think about what is next to continue our mission to greater acceptance through being out and proud, vocal, and fully engaged in our community,” Olivani said.
“I think it’s a message that we continue to move forward,” Hoechst told News 6. “We’ve just come off a very challenging time and I think it’s important for everyone to know that we are moving forward. We can move forward and we should move forward.”
Olivani began Lake County Pride in 2019 with the intent of “enhancing and reaching the local LGBTQIA+ community through education, advocacy and acts of service.” She said she hopes this new proclamation and the exposure of her organization can help her continue the work she does for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Her next goal is to request that the proclamation be honored throughout the whole county.
“I know first hand the children and young adults here in Lake County need our support and love more than ever. LGBTQIA+ children here still experience homophobia, transphobia and rejection from friends and family at a disproportionately higher rate,” she said. “Representation and advocacy make all the difference.”
For more information, visit LakeCountyPride2020.org.
