The Salt Lake City Council convened on the evening of Oct. 17, 2023, to declare October as Italian-American Heritage Month. The Council voted unanimously to adopt a ceremonial resolution—jointly with Mayor Erin Mendenhall—declaring October as Italian-American Heritage Month. During the process of adopting this resolution, Council member Victoria Petro requested a point of privilege to speak on the resolution.

“I made a lot of headlines for being elected as a Latina, but I would love the opportunity to speak to the other half of me,” Petro said. Her grandparents, she said, immigrated to the United States from Calabria, Italy, and the life they created allowed Petro to participate in the American dream in ways “previously unimagined by them.”