California city that banned the Pride flag poised to get powerful gay congressman

A California city that banned the Pride flag could soon be represented by a gay Congressman.Huntington Beach, a conservative city in Southern California, will likely be represented in the next Congress by U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, the first out immigrant elected to Congress, who could be one of the most powerful members next year. That’s the result of a Democratic redraw of the Golden State’s congressional boundaries that maximizes blue seats.Now, conservative officials in the city are complaining about the change. Since 2023, Huntington Beach officials have adopted a number of anti-LGBTQ+ policies. In addition to barring the display of the Pride flag on city property, officials in the Orange County municipality have restricted access to some books with LGBTQ+ themes in public libraries.Related: Getting personal with Robert Garcia, who’s been leading the Democrats' release of the Epstein files But city leaders see the new congressional map as Democrats imposing their own agenda."It's just California ugly-ass politics, and they are all about their agenda and not about the people. They don't care about the people of California one bit,” Huntington Beach City Councilman Pat Burns told Reuters.California redrew its congressional lines in response to Texas, a solidly Republican-led state, doing the same to boost GOP representation in the midterm elections. The moves have fueled a broader, multistate effort to redraw congressional boundaries in both Republican- and Democratic-controlled states.Notably, Huntington Beach is already represented by a Democrat, U.S. Rep. Dave Min. But Garcia would present a much sharper ideological contrast to the proudly MAGA city, where residents regularly attend City Council meetings to praise President Donald Trump.Related: Superman, Batman, and Robert Garcia: A gay Democrat’s stand against his political villainsRelated: op Oversight Democrat says fired AG Pam Bondi ‘must answer’ for Epstein filesGarcia told Reuters that facin