National Coming Out Day Event at Fresno City Hall

National Coming Out Day Event at Fresno City Hall
By Dan Waterhouse

Over a hundred members of the glbt community and allies gathered on Sunday, October 10th, on the Fresno City Hall plaza to celebrate National Coming Out Day.

And, the homophobes stayed away.

There were no counter-protestors––there had been rumors there might be––and the day was beautiful and perfect.

One of the speakers, past Central California Alliance president Robin McGehee, made it plain how she felt to a cheering crowd––quoting from the movie “Network”––“I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!"

She outlined several actions she’d like the glbt community and its supporters to take.

They included visiting or calling Mayor Alan Autry to let him know that his "actions are as violent as those" of hate crimes against the glbt community.

Other actions included sending Autry a month’s worth of receipts with the sales tax circled and with the note "gay money that supports this city", talking to one non-glbt person about some of the issues important to the community, and protesting the Focus on the Family’s "ex"-gay event at Peoples’ Church on November 6th.

She concluded by saying, "I’’m a human being and my life has value, regardless of what Alan Autry believes!"

The Coming Out Day event was organized by a group that included Baltimore Gonzalez and Robert Flanagan of Marriage Equality California and Jason Scott of Fresno Pride.

Gonzalez said above all, he wanted the larger community to "see us out supporting those wanting to come out."

Two weeks earlier, Gonzalez asked Autry to sign a proclamation acknowledging National Coming Out Day.

According to Gonzalez, when he sent the draft proclamation to Autry’s office on September 26th, he "offered to change the wording in any way possible to make it comfortable" for Autry to sign.

Autry refused to either edit the draft proclamation or sign it. Gonzalez said Autry then refused to say why he wouldn’t.

In a written statement released to the Fresno Bee, Autry said "whether a person comes out or not is solely up to each individual. A city proclamation serves no useful purpose in the deeply private and personal decision."
Gonzalez said he submitted the following text for the proclamation (with the Whereases removed): "National Coming Out day is a day to accept ourselves as who we are, live a healthy life of honesty and openness about being a part of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender communities and/or a supporter of civil rights and equality for all communities; and this is a day to share our stories with those who love and support us, and sometimes to educate those who may want or need to learn more about these issues. It is commonly believed that the invisibility of this minority group allows for perpetuation of discrimination and hatred against men and women on the basis of sexual orientation; National Coming Out Day has become a symbol of celebration and remembrance of those individuals who challenged us, inspired us, fought for equal civil and human rights, educated the general public by combating stereotypes and myths; the City of Fresno is committed to fairness and the recognition of the full rights and responsibilities of citizenship and contributions of all Fresno residents, including the GLBT Community. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that I, ____________ of the City of Fresno, do hereby proclaim, October 11th, 2004, to be: "NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY" in the City of Fresno, and recognize the contributions of all people, including the GLBT Community of Fresno."

Autry then told organizers he would never sign a proclamation acknowledging the glbt community. Autry told representatives of CCA and Community Link on August 9th he would sign a proclamation acknowledging a "glbt awareness day." He also offered to speak at any glbt event at the City Hall plaza. Autry was nowhere in sight on October 10th.

He urged the crowd to take the time to find out who the glbt community’’s true friends are. Gonzalez reported that no member of the Fresno City Council would sign the proclamation. He said he did get a response from the county Board of Supervisors.

Gonzalez presented the proclamation to the crowd, saying "we are proclaiming this ourselves. We the people should sign this; we don’t need anyone else to do this."

After Gonzalez made brief remarks, several speakers followed. They included Rev. Bryan Jessup of the Unitarian Universalist church, CCA president Sue Stone, Mike Martinez of QueerFresno, Chris Esqueda of United Student Pride, Flanagan and McGehee.

Martinez reminded the crowd of San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk (who was the first openly gay man elected to the board there) and mentioned that Milk believed "the number one enemy of the glbt community at any time was invisibility."

Martinez said he’s 33 and came out at 28. The first few years he kept silent and said nothing as friends made anti-gay jokes. He remarked at first the only place in public he’’d show outward affection towards his boyfriend was the Tower District. He said he finally realized the longer he kept silent about who he truly was, the longer he helped "keep the foot of our oppressors on our necks."

He is silent no longer.