Fresno County limits event spending. LGBTQ+ advocates say it’s discrimination
A divided Fresno County Board of Supervisors adopted new spending limits on public events that members of the LGBTQ+ community say are discriminatory.
The new administrative policy, adopted in a 3-2 vote, requires county departments to ask for approval from the board for spending at community events and different causes.
The list of what causes or holidays that will be supported is still up for debate, and officials on Tuesday said they expected to discuss it in August.
Officials said the county did not have such a policy before, although supervisors, themselves, must get any expenditure of more than $1,500 approved by the board. The new policy would align the new administrative policy with the one the board follows, according to Paul Nerland, the chief administrative officer.
The policy comes after Supervisor Garry Bredefeld expressed outrage that the county had spent about $6,000 in June during the the Pride Month parade and event, where Department of Health employees passed out condoms, lube and informational materials.
“That’s a way for checks and balances to make sure taxpayer money is spent appropriately,” Bredefeld said on Tuesday. “I personally don’t feel that money is spent appropriately, as it was at the gay Pride parade.”
He compared handing out the condoms to a county program that allows intravenous drug users to exchange hypodermic needles at a clinic, which he also said was a poor use of tax dollars.
He also said the Fresno County Library should not highlight the month “to make sure that our departments don’t go woke, don’t buy into the nonsense that unfortunately involves gender ideology and trans and all the other stuff that’s destructive to our children.”
Members of the LGBTQ+ community at the board’s meeting said the policy around spending was a veiled attempt to squeeze Pride out.
“Every one of you knows this is not about the fiscal problem,” Fresno resident Myra Coble said, addressing the supervisors. “The reason this item is on the agenda is because of the hateful discrimination and bias of one of your board members against a particular group of people.”
Another resident said adopting the policy was a step closer to using it to exclude the marginalized community.
“Fresno County can be known as a welcoming, ethical and well-educated community or it can be known as a willfully ignorant community,” Mike Dalena said.
A number of residents said the new policy was a waste of time for county employees, saying the health department has been involved in Pride longer than any of the supervisors have been on the board.
Supervisor Luis Chavez, who voted no on the policy along with Supervisor Brian Pacheco, described the LGBTQ+ community as part of “my family.”
He said he was concerned the policy discussion next month could lead to the supervisors choosing favorites.
“They’re my family, and I’m going to continue to support them,” he said. “I don’t want to open ourselves up for exposure or litigation or we’re going to discriminate or single out one group or person.”
Supervisor Nathan Magsig said Fresno County should have a presence at the Pride event to continue to provide education, but the county also needs a policy on spending.
“Anytime there are dollars that are being packed as a sponsor of some type of parade or program or event, I just want that to be fully transparent for this board to be able to weigh in,” he said.
Officials said they expected to discuss the list of supported causes at the first meeting in August.
This story was originally published July 8, 2025 at 3:31 PM.
