Leaders in this Fresno County city caved to bigots — and went against the town’s heritage
In 1944, Sweden became one of the first countries to legalize homosexual activity between consenting adults. (By comparison, it took until 1975 for California to pass similar laws.)
In 1972, Sweden allowed citizens to legally change their gender after reassignment surgery, provided free hormone therapy and lowered the equal age of consent to 15. The Swedish government in 1995 began recognizing same-sex partnerships. By 2009, those rights were extended to full legal marriages.
All of which are reasons why Sweden is widely considered one of the world’s most open-minded, progressive countries when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights.
“I have found that being queer in Sweden is rather normal. Really normal,” writes a Swedish student describing the experience of holding hands with her partner in public.
“You don’t get prolonged stares or uncomfortable questions. Because in Sweden you’re just another person loving another person.”
What does any of this have to do with the Fresno County city of Kingsburg?
Both nothing and everything.
A railroad town along the mighty Kings River settled by Swedish immigrants in the 1870s, Kingsburg remains proud of its heritage a century and a half later.
Last weekend in downtown Kingsburg, where many of the buildings are designed in Swedish-style architecture, locals celebrated the return of the Kingsburg Swedish Festival after the event was canceled last year due to COVID-19.
Folks dressed in traditional Swedish attire. Swedish food (i.e. pancakes, pea soup, meatballs) was consumed and traditions (i.e. maypole raising, folk dancing, arts and crafts) celebrated. And the Swedish flag (an asymmetrical gold cross on a light-blue field) was proudly displayed.
Kingsburg’s Swedish heritage only extends so far
Know what flag wasn’t flying at the Kingsburg Swedish Festival, and won’t be from any city building in Kingsburg anytime soon?
The rainbow flag symbolizing LGBTQ+ rights. Why? Because Kingsburg’s Swedish heritage only extends so far. It quickly runs up against small-town prejudice and bigotry cloaked as “conservatism” and “Christian values.”
Which is precisely what transpired during Wednesday night’s Kingsburg City Council meeting, when two motions by Councilmember Jewel Hurtado to recognize LGBTQ+ Pride Month in June died without a second.
Funny how someone can claim to be friends with a gay, lesbian, bisexual or trans person, or count them as family members, yet lack the fortitude to support them with a largely symbolic act.
Rather than stand up for their friends and family members, those cowardly politicians caved to a bigoted mob summoned into action by Fresno County Republicans and Proud Boys.
Oh, sure. There were many Kingsburg residents who spoke out against the LGBTQ+ Pride Month ordinance. Like the one who held an American flag in the council chambers and proclaimed, “We stand for this flag. We stand for the California Republic flag. I don’t believe we need another flag to divide us.”
Why is rainbow flag divisive and Swedish flag OK?
There are two main problems with this argument. First, the rainbow flag is only a symbol of division to those who are intolerant of lifestyles different than theirs. To the rest of us, it’s a symbol of inclusion.
Second, the flag of Sweden routinely flies from Kingsburg’s City Hall even though the city’s 12,000 residents are almost evenly divided between whites and Latinos, according to U.S. census data.
So why isn’t the Swedish flag divisive within the Kingsburg community? Or even the town’s signature water tower, visible from Highway 99, that’s shaped like an antique Swedish coffee pot?
Permit me to answer my own questions: Because Sweden is a predominantly white country, both in our mental image of Swedish people and according to the population data.
Does anyone really believe that if Kingsburg was settled by immigrants from Nigeria, the town would be celebrating its Nigerian heritage 150 years later? Of course not.
Personally, I enjoy how Kingsburg clings to its Swedish roots because cultural diversity is a strength. That applies to all cultures, including those of the distant Scandinavian variety.
It’s just a shame the city’s appreciation of Sweden is limited to flags, architecture and thin, folded pancakes rather than the advancement of LGBTQ+ rights for which the country is internationally known.
This story was originally published May 20, 2021 at 3:01 PM.
