HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. -- Huntington Beach radiates California cool. The best surfers in the world descend here each summer to compete on waves rolling in under its public pier. Convertibles zoom past towering palms along Pacific Coast Highway. Beachfront homeowners enjoy breathtaking views, and everybody seems to sport a hang-loose attitude.

But trans activist Kanan Durham says Surf City USA and Orange County in general have grown more and more unwelcoming — in some cases hostile — for members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Durham, 32, joined other concerned Orange County residents to form the nonprofit group Pride At The Pier to push back against what they say is a rising tide of hate here that's emblematic of a trend seen across the U.S.

When Huntington Beach's majority-conservative city council voted last year to ban the display of most flags on city property — including the rainbow flag, a global emblem of LGBTQ+ pride, unity and self-expression — members of the group took to the pier, waving Pride flags in protest.

Their act of defiance was met with a rebuke of sorts when voters approved a measure to write the ban into the city charter.

Given that only about 26% of registered Orange County voters cast ballots on Super Tuesday, Durham worries that many have stopped following local government and therefore may not realize a crisis is unfolding. He's concerned that some will see battles over Pride flags as little more than business as usual in era when no aspect of life seems immune from the polarization that defines U.S. politics.

No one should assume that LGBTQ+ Californians are shielded from prejudice simply because they live in a progressive state where Democrats hold sway, he says.

"California is complicated," says Durham, executive director of Pride At The Pier. "There are a lot of people who see California as this blue bubble where this stuff doesn't happen. They don't realize how much danger that marginalized communities face."

Supporters of the flag ban argue that identity- and issue-based flags are divisive in a city they insist is tolerant and inclusive.

Yet Huntington Beach has had a hard time shaking its reputation as a haven for racists and far-right extremists.

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