Dyer proposes Eaton Plaza for honorary flags. LGBTQ+ folks say that’s ‘separate but not equal’
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer on Thursday announced an alternative to raising the Pride flag at Fresno City Hall, but already LGBTQ+ residents and organizations say his proposal amounts to “separate but not equal.”
Dyer proposed creating a “unity park” at Eaton Plaza in downtown Fresno by adding a semicircle of flag poles for flag-raising ceremonies and celebrations. Dyer said the issue and proposal was not about the LGBTQ+ community, which he affirmed and said he “loves dearly.” Rather, it was about being inclusive to other groups, such as religious ones, that might be excluded from the resolution passed by the Fresno City Council last week, he said.
Dyer said he believes there’s room to improve the proposal, but he hoped the Fresno City Council would work with him to move forward.
“I have spent considerable time reflecting on this resolution’s potential to divide this community, as it already has with our city council and in the mayor’s office,” he said during a news conference. “After much consultation with community members and staff, I feel compelled to offer what I believe to be a reasonable solution as I consider my options.”
The Fresno City Council last week weighed and ultimately approved by a 5-2 vote a resolution giving elected officials the authority to raise honorary flags at City Hall rather than the city manager. Councilmembers Garry Bredefeld and Luis Chavez voted against the resolution, and Dyer also spoke in opposition of it. The city leaders debated issues of free speech and separation of church and state.
Since then, Dyer said he’s received hundreds of calls to his office, messages on social media and more. He lost sleep over the issue, he said.
Dyer said he hopes this proposal passes at the next city council meeting so that the flag poles can be erected on June 11 and the city can host a Pride celebration at Eaton Plaza that day.
Council support?
Councilmembers Garry Bredefeld and Mike Karbassi joined Dyer at the news conference and said they support his proposal. Dyer also was joined by many city department directors and administrators from the mayor’s office.
Bredefeld called the resolution passed by the council divisive and said Dyer’s Eaton Plaza proposal was a win for the community and removed the politics from the issue.
“This is not government here. This is a community here. And so any flag can fly here, including religious flags can fly here,” Bredefeld said. “That is not the case at City Hall.”
Karbassi also liked the Eaton Plaza idea because it’s a community space, he said. Karbassi and Dyer also pointed out that city leaders signed on to a proclamation declaring June Pride month and previous proclamations for transgender visibility.
“Everyone in this community can be who they are, and you can feel safe in this community. That’s what Fresno is,” Karbassi said.
Councilmembers Miguel Arias, Nelson Esparza, Tyler Maxwell and Esmeralda Soria were adamant in statements to The Bee that the Pride flag would still fly at City Hall. Arias also pointed out that using Eaton Plaza would violate the city’s Parks Master Plan and Eaton Plaza Master Plan.
“If this proposal had come at any other time, I might have considered it. But unfortunately the issue has only come up now during Pride month,” Esparza said. “This is an entire segment of our community that is still fighting for their basic civil rights. …This is a non-issue as far as I’m concerned. Fresno’s LGBTQ community deserves so much better than this.”
Soria and Arias also worried the mayor’s proposal would open up Eaton Plaza to flying flags of hate groups. During the news conference, Dyer said city officials will not use the flag poles to promote groups that spew prejudiced or hateful ideologies.
Soria said she remains committed to sending a clear message that Fresno is the proud home to a thriving LGBTQ+ community. “They are our family members, local leaders, police and firefighters and business owners,” she said.
Council President Luis Chavez said he would work with the mayor and city council to reach a consensus, but he said the priority is for the LGBTQ+ community to feel good about and be proud of whatever decision is made.
“What’s been lost in the shuffle of this whole confusion of a process is that the city of Fresno has been the only city in the Central Valley that’s consistently supported our LGBT folks, whether it’s with a proclamation, honoring trans folks at City Hall or attending the Pride parade,” he said. “We’re always going to be there.
“For me, we have to be consistent in accommodating folks that agree with us and folks that don’t agree with us,” he added.
‘Separate but not equal’
Jessica Mahoney showed up to Dyer’s news conference at Eaton Plaza Thursday morning to send the message that raising the Pride flag at Eaton Plaza rather than City Hall was similar to the “separate but equal” language used in the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson, which legalized racial segregation.
She pointed out that there were no issues when City Hall raised the Mexican, Armenian or Greek flags.
Mahoney said she understood the need for a policy to raise honorary flags, but changing the policy during Pride month made it divisive. Recognizing and honoring the LGBTQ+ community is meaningful for those in the queer community, especially young people, she said.
“You know, we have many cultures here in Fresno. We’re a big community of different folks,” she said. “To play this game now. and to claim ‘One Fresno’ — that’s not ‘One Fresno.’ Separate is not equal.”
After the news conference, Dyer sat and talked with Mahoney one-on-one.
Jeffery Robinson, the CEO of Community Link and Fresno Rainbow Pride, echoed Mahoney’s comments.
“Those are types of compromises and policies that lived in the ‘50s and ‘60s, and they are no longer relevant today,” he said, referring to “separate but equal” language and policies.
Robinson’s organization originally planned to participate in a flag-raising ceremony at City Hall on June 1 until the city council’s resolution became controversial. People from LA and San Francisco even planned to attend the ceremony, he said.
Now the group is aiming for June 11, and he hopes Dyer will reconsider and raise the Pride flag at City Hall.
“To have that flag flown at Fresno City Hall, the seat of government for the city of Fresno, would send a tremendous positive statement of inclusion, acceptance, tolerance and respect,” he said. “That’s the only place the flag should be flown in June for gay Pride month.”
Arias, Esparza, Maxwell and Soria all agreed flying the flag at Eaton Plaza sent a message of “separate but not equal.”
“City Hall, not Eaton Plaza, is where Fresnans for decades have gathered to show unity as a community. ‘One Fresno’ starts by leaving behind separate-but-equal solutions and embracing unity in our most powerful institutions,” Arias said.
Soria said the mayor’s proposal creates “a second class of residents.”
Maxwell said he supports a free speech area at Eaton Plaza, but the Pride flag must be flown at City Hall.
“Our local LGBTQ community is equal in worth with the rest of our city, not precluded or separate of that worth,” he said.
If Dyer tries to block the council’s ability to raise the Pride flag at City Hall by vetoing the city council resolution, Soria vowed to seek to override the veto immediately.
Robinson said it’s time for Fresno’s leaders and the community to “step up.”
“It’s time for Fresno to step up to the plate,” he said. “We need to do what is right, not what is necessarily politically easy for us.”
This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 2:00 PM.