A group of California-based lawmakers have introduced a resolution to honor one of their own: former state legislator Gloria Molina. 

The resolution is being led by Sen. Alex Padilla in the upper chamber, and Reps. Linda Sanchez, Judy Chu and Tony Cárdenas in the House.

What You Need To Know

  • California-based lawmakers have introduced a resolution to honor trailblazing Mexican American lawmaker Gloria Molina, who died in May

  • Molina was the first Latina elected to the California State Assembly, to the Los Angeles City Council and to the Los Anglees County Board of Supervisors

  • She came of age amid the Chicano movement, when young Mexican Americans began to harness and assert their political power in the face of entrenched racism

  • Molina was a champion of women's rights, public health and open spaces for disadvantaged communities

Molina was a legendary figure in California politics, known as a trailblazer among both Mexican Americans and women. In a region that owes much of its identity to Chicanos and Latinos, she was the first Latina elected to the California State Assembly, the first on the Los Angeles City Council and the first on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. 

“Just like me, Gloria Molina was the daughter of immigrant parents from Mexico who came to this country to create a better life for their children. In families like ours, siblings are close, family is everything, and you’re raised to know that the American Dream is within reach if you are willing to work hard. That is exactly what Gloria Molina did,” Sanchez said in a release Friday. “She dedicated her life to public service and gave a voice to Latinas and Latinos throughout the Los Angeles area. It is my honor to introduce this resolution to honor Gloria Molina’s life, achievements, and legacy.”

Molina died one month before the resolution was introduced, on May 23, after a three-year battle with cancer. She announced her terminal diagnosis in March. She was 74.

She was in politics for over three decades, beginning her career “when few women or Latinos held public office," as Padilla pointed out in a statement.

But even before assuming elected office, Molina was an advocate, coming of age amid the tumultuous political rise of Mexican Americans in Los Angeles — and, even among the movement, standing with her fellow Chicanas battling against Chicano sexism and machismo.

The Chicano movement, she told an interviewer with the California State Archive’s oral history program, was about identifying the barriers placed in front of Mexican Americans, and pushing back on them, “confronting and not saying, ‘por eso estamos como estamos’ [that’s why we are in the conditions we are in,]” she said. “They were charging and saying, ‘wait a minute, it’s because of racism. It’s because of discrimnation. Because of lack of opportunity. Because it challenges things.’”

She would champion women’s health, backing a movement to end involuntary and forced sterilization of Mexican American women at Los Angeles County hospitals, and worked with community colleges to strengthen nursing programs and create mentoring programs to combat a regional shortage of health care providers.

“Gloria dedicated her life to public service as an unrelenting champion for disadvantaged communities in the halls of power at the local, state, and federal levels. Each time we speak out against the status quo and demand better from our government and our political leaders, we take a page from Gloria’s playbook,” said Padilla. “It is my honor to introduce this resolution in the Senate to honor her barrier breaking legacy, unparalleled leadership, and commitment to improving the lives of all Californians.”

Molina ran for California assembly in 1982, defeating the party’s hand picked candidate and then beating the Republican candidate in the general. She moved from the assembly to the Los Angeles City Council in 1986, representing her home region of East Los Angeles. She jumped to the five-seat Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in 1991, serving on the board until 2014, when recently-enacted term limits ended her career. In 2015, she challenged incumbent City Council member Jose Huizar and lost. (Huizar would later be convicted on federal corruption charges.)

Grand Park in Los Angeles was named in her honor earlier this year following her diagnosis, in honor of her work to increase access to green space. 

Chu honored Molina’s commitment to environmental justice, calling her “a fierce advocate of bringing more resources and protections to the San Gabriel Mountains and Rivers,” and that “more Angelenos, especially communities of color, are able to enjoy the beauty, science, history, and recreational opportunities of the outdoors” because of her. Cárdenas called her “an inspiration to me and generations of Latino politicians.”