SAN JOSE (KRON) — Officials with the City of San Jose announced plans of joining a national movement aiming to protect LGBTQ Rights and Civil Rights in the month of June, Friday afternoon.

The City of San Jose will participate in the “National Movement for Equality” in an effort to support unity, pride and to stand against the hatred and bigotry dividing the nation.

“As national Pride month, June is typically a time to celebrate; but with elected officials challenging LGBTQ plus civil rights protections across the country and with an emerging federal pattern of exclusion of LGBTQ-related data and defunding of programs, it is more important than ever for our community and it’s allies to be civically engaged and publicly visible,” said Maribel Martinez with the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Affairs of Santa Clara County.

The Equality March in San Jose will be hosted by the LGBTQ community, and will march through downtown San Jose on Sunday, June 11, 2017. Organizers said the march will start at City Hall at 11:00 a.m. and will lead to the Unity and Pride Rally at Plaza De Cesar Chavez.

The march is intended to encourage self-expression, education on our political climate and allowing community members to march in solidarity.

“After the change of power in Washington D.C., we were inundated with messages from fellow LGBTQ+ community who feared their hand-fought rights may be revoked,” said Nathan Svoboda of Project MORE Foundation. ” We sat down and determined to spearhead this movement in San Jose. We knew that if we were to proceed we needed the help of our diverse LGBTQ+ community.”

The Equality March is set to unite various organizations and community members of all backgrounds and orientations. For more information on the march click the link to their main website The Equality March for Unity and Pride.