Library staff blocked from Fresno Pride event by majority of county supervisors
A split Fresno County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to prevent library staffers from being involved in a Pride Month event next month, and placed what restrictions the body legally could on displays at library branches.
With the 3-2 vote, the supervisors denied a request from library staffers to participate in the Fresno Rainbow Pride event that follows the annual parade. The participation would have amounted to an informational booth at the event, which typically comes with a $125 fee.
Fresno Rainbow Pride officials said Tuesday they would waive the fee, but that did not prevent Supervisors Garry Bredefeld, Nathan Magsig and Buddy Mendes from voting to deny the request.
In a more theatrical moment than is common at a board meeting, Bredefeld took out a sign to place on his desk that said “no indoctrination of our children,” which also underlined the first two words.
“(The library) should never be about promoting a political agenda for indoctrinating young, innocent and very impressionable children who accept the lifestyle or political agenda they have absolutely no business promoting,” Bredefeld said before the vote.
Bredefeld pushed a new policy — Policy 80 — last year around what holiday celebrations can be recognized with county funding and county employee time. While introducing it last year, he said he hoped the supervisors would remove support of Pride Month, which he described as “indoctrination” to push a “political ideology.”
Supervisor Luis Chavez, who voted to approve the library participation, said the library should represent all people.
“I do think there’s value in our library attending these events and making sure that folks have access to our library services,” he said. “They pay taxes, they also participate in our community.”
The Fresno County Library participates in events throughout the year, attending them after they were invited, according to Sally Gomez, the county librarian. She said she could not think of any event in recent memory staffers did not participate in based on the event’s subject matter.
While the supervisors can stop staffers from participating in a Pride event, they do not have any say over how the library displays books, according to Doug Sloan, the county counsel.
Critics of the Pride displays at local libraries have complained that books with LGBTQ+ themes around sexuality and gender are often placed at the front entrance during Pride, describing them as “in my face,” as more than one public speaker said during Tuesday’s meeting.
State law says library staffers get to decide how books are displayed in the library. The supervisors have some say over library displays other than the books, Sloan said.
Bookmarks and LGBTQ+ books
Bredefeld took exception to bookmarks, which come in about two dozen styles, the library has passed out to young people, including one he received in the mail from a complaining parent.
He said many of the books displayed on the bookmarks have LGBTQ+ themes, arguing the bookmarks amounted to indoctrination by library staffers. He went as far as to suggest the county may consider privatizing the library.
Gomez said she did not agree, adding the library often promotes its services at local schools.
“I wouldn’t call it advocacy or an agenda,” she said. “I think it’s representation for the students.”
More than one supervisor noted the county’s vote on Tuesday was not related to the banning of any books regardless of subject matter. The supervisors don’t have the power to ban any books.
While books were not banned, many members of Fresno’s queer community took the vote as an affront on their existence, like local resident Madison Nield.
“This is a waste of time and money: using taxpayer funding in clarified language and manufactured outrage to make a group of Americans feel unwelcome in their own public institutions,” she said. “Libraries don’t indoctrinate; they illuminate — and no supervisor has the right to dim that light.”
Many of the speakers at the meeting who wanted the county to restrict county staffers pointed to their religious beliefs. Like Bill Scott, who said he had two gay brothers but did not support their sexuality.
“I never thought they should be punished, but anyone who harmed them should be punished,” he said. “However, homosexuality is a sin. There’s no argument against that.”
Still, there were also religious leaders among the LGBTQ+ supporters, like the Rev. Simon Biasell-Moshrefi, senior pastor at The Big Red Church in the Tower District.
“I’ve heard it said that you cannot hate someone whose story you know,” he said. “I don’t know if you’ve heard the stories of my congregation, the individuals who don’t feel like they belong anywhere else in the county.”
