Luke Eigelbach and other representatives of the Los Alamos Pride Collective at Tuesday’s Los Alamos County Council meeting at the Municipal Building. LAR screenshot
BY LUKE EIGELBACH
Los Alamos Pride Collective
Editor’s note: The following commentary was made by Luke Eigelbach at the Los Alamos County Council meeting Tuesday evening as the Los Alamos Pride Collective accepted a Council proclamation (see below).
I am here this evening representing the Los Alamos Pride Collective, the group of volunteers who have been putting on Pride in Los Alamos since the inaugural festival here in 2018. Our group is a self described “ball of love and chaos” because we have a ton of heart, and maybe not the best organizational skills. But thankfully when you lead with your heart, only good things follow, and I couldn’t be more proud of the magic our little group has brought to Los Alamos.
Thank you to the Council for reading that proclamation, and for continuing to declare the second week of June LGBTQ+ Pride week in Los Alamos. It means so much to the queer community to know that we are recognized, valued members of Los Alamos, especially now.
“Especiallly now.” I wish very much that I didn’t need to have those last two words in that paragraph. I look forward, with all my might, to the day when we can talk about fighting for our rights only in the past tense. And that day WILL come. But for now, I can’t talk about Pride without first recognizing that we are very much in a fight for our rights. Our right to exist in public spaces, to have official documents that reflect our true identities, for our ability to travel abroad, and so much more.
But tonight; this week; this Pride month; we remember something that cannot be forgotten in the midst of resistance: that our joy, queer joy, is both sacred and necessary. Sacred because it connects us to all those ancestors and elders that came before us. The beautiful, vivid people who taught us to dance and laugh and love and live despite the hostilities of the world. Queer joy, trans joy, is sacred because it exists with or without permission. With or without understanding.
Queer joy is necessary because resistance without joy is finite; a well that quickly runs dry and leaves us tired and thirsty. Joy reminds us what it is we’re fighting for. To paraphrase a line from the musical Hadestown, joy allows to see what the world could be, in spite of the way that it is. Joy is our window into a future with all of us in it. Living as our full, authentic selves.
In the times we live in, it is so incredibly easy to see the darkness, to get mired in it like it were wet concrete around our ankles. But there is so much light to be found if you only turn your face to it. All over New Mexico, and all over America, queer people are not just surviving, not just fighting, but BLOSSOMING.
We are working in careers that both satisfy and challenge us; we are spending our Friday nights at the local brewery, and friends, acquaintances, and strangers stop and say hello; we are having Great British Baking Show style baking contests with our friends, giving each other Hollywood handshakes; we’re buying houses and filling them to the brim with things and people and pets that makes us happy; we’re taking trips to see all the National Parks; we’re falling in love. And, this month, we are gathering our communities together to celebrate.
Pride celebrates queer folks, but it’s also for you, the community that holds us and helps us thrive. So I invite all of you to join us at Central Park Square on Friday for the festival, and I thank you for all that you do throughout the year to uplift our community.
Proclamation Declaring June 7-13 as “LGBTQ+ Pride Week in Los Alamos County”
WHEREAS: everyone has the right to live without fear or prejudice, discrimination, violence, or hatred based on gender identity or expression or sexual orientation; and,
WHEREAS: June is national Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Plus (LGBTQ+) Pride Month-a time to celebrate, educate and engage the community on the issues, contributions, culture, and unique voice of LGBTQ+ people, and the impact they have on local and global communities;
WHEREAS: it is desirable to bring together LGBTQ+ people and their allies to form a tangible community of support and acceptance in Los Alamos County, to create and enhance visibility and support of diversity in our community, and support LGBTQ+ youth who are four times likelier to attempt suicide or twice as likely to be bullied at school; and,
WHEREAS: according to “Mental Health in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth,” published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, visible LGBTQ+ support from parents, friends, and community during adolescence each uniquely contributed to positive well-being in young adulthood, resulting in reduction in depressive symptoms, substance use, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
NOW, THEREFORE, on behalf of the Council of the Incorporated County of Los Alamos, I do hereby proclaim June 7 through 13, 2026, as
“LGBTQ+ Pride Week in Los Alamos County”
and we urge our citizens to respect and honor our diverse community, celebrate and build a culture of inclusiveness and acceptance, and participate in this year’s Los Alamos Pride Festival taking place on Friday, June 12th from 3 to 7 p.m. at Central Park Square.
DATED this 9th day of June 2026.