California is the first state in the nation to raise a memorial for LGBT service members. Governor Jerry Brown signed on Monday, AB2439, which designates “the LGBTQ Veterans Memorial at the Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City as the official state LGBTQ veterans memorial.”

The obelisk has an eagle and a pink triangle (in reference to the pink triangles used to designate gay men during the Holocaust) and was dedicated on May 27, 2001.

Tom Swann Hernandez, founding chair of AMVETS Post 66 is widely credited with getting the memorial off the ground. “Our perseverance has paid off,” Hernandez said in a statement. “California is leading the nation by honoring the heroes, many of whom have had to die in silence because they were forced to conceal their sexual orientation.”

“Designating it as the state memorial it will be on all the state materials and everything and really recognizes thousands of people that have served honorably and need to be recognized,” said Greg Pettis, Cathedral City’s Mayor and the first openly gay elected official in the Coachella Valley. “It really is there for reflection and for people to come and remember the people.”