Is LGBTQ+ community part of Dyer’s ‘One Fresno’ vision? Veto rumors raise questions
In Jerry Dyer’s tenure as Fresno mayor, this litmus test was going to arrive sooner or later.
That moment is at hand, wrapped around a brewing flagpole controversy that seemingly places Dyer’s strong faith beliefs in conflict with his very secular responsibilities of running California’s fifth-largest city.
Three flagpoles stand in the front plaza outside Fresno City Hall. The American flag and California flag fly from two of them, and the third varies between the city of Fresno flag and the POW/MIA flag. On occasion, flags of other nations (recent examples include Armenia and Greece) are raised to commemorate certain events.
Until last week, Fresno’s city manager had discretion over which flag flew from the third flagpole. By a 5-2 vote, the Fresno City Council transferred that power to itself — clearing the way for the Pride flag to be raised during a June 11 ceremony in honor of Gay Pride month. Six of them added their names to a citywide invitation.
Now, according to councilmembers Esmeralda Soria and Miguel Arias, Dyer is giving strong consideration to blocking the council’s vote with his first mayoral veto.
“I asked (Dyer) directly if he was going to veto, and he didn’t respond,” said Soria, the flagpole ordinance’s sponsor. “He didn’t say he’s vetoing it. But it sounds like that’s the direction he’s going.”
Dyer did not respond to my inquiries, either. Instead, I received a phone call from his communications director, Sontaya Rose, who informed me the mayor is still making up his mind.
“He has a lot of contemplating to do, along with getting some legal advice and whatnot,” Rose said. “It’s not a decision he takes lightly at all.”
Dyer’s sincerity is not in question. But it is fair to ask whether he views the wall that separates church and state as a soundproof cement barrier like those along Highway 41 or a portable chain-link fence.
The Constitution is clear on this, through the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Is Dyer? His arguments during last week’s council debate, protesting wording in the ordinance that excludes religious flags from being flown, indicate otherwise.
Soria: June 1 Pride month ceremony nixed by Dyer
According to Soria, everything was in place for a June 1 ceremony recognizing Gay Pride month that included a City Hall flag raising — similar to what Merced and several other California cities have done. That is, until Dyer caught wind of those plans and nixed them. Which was the reason for her ordinance.
“We’ve been working on this for a while, and it only became an issue when Kingsburg became a big deal,” Soria said in reference to last month’s failed proposal by Kingsburg City Councilwoman Jewel Hurtado to recognize Pride month in that city. “Before that, the city manager was cool with it.”
Wonder what changed? If what Soria says is true, Dyer owes the people of Fresno an explanation.
On May 25, two days before the flagpole vote, Chukchansi Park hosted the annual Fresno-Clovis Prayer Breakfast, billed by organizers as the largest event of its type outside Washington, D.C. About 2,000 people were in attendance, including Dyer, Deputy Mayor Matthew Grundy, Chief of Police Paco Balderrama and other city officials.
The keynote speaker was Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of prominent evangelist Billy Graham, who in 2016 told a conservative radio host that God “allowed” terrorist attacks and mass shootings to happen in the United States because many Americans, primarily those who support LGBTQ+ rights and believe in evolution, have “abandoned” him.
Does Dyer subscribe to that way of thinking? It’s a fair question for any elected official, especially one who espouses inclusiveness.
Lotz didn’t repeat those comments here, I’m told, or anything close to them. Still, if it’s OK for a publicly owned stadium to host a religious gathering and give a platform to someone whose views represent a narrow segment of the Christian faith, surely it’s OK for the Pride flag to fly in front of City Hall.
Any rationalization or equivocation to the contrary simply doesn’t make logical sense.
‘One Fresno’ must include LGBTQ+ community
Soria and Arias believe Dyer intends to propose an alternative solution by creating a community flagpole area in Eaton Plaza, a block from City Hall, where the Pride flag and others of special interests can be flown.
Which reminds both of them — and me as well — of the separate-but-equal Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation in the South and were later found to be unconstitutional.
Fresno’s LGBTQ+ community, which includes several well-known public officials (no names but a few are open about their sexuality) along with police officers, educators, medical and legal professionals, office bureaucrats, service-industry workers and thousands of all ages and vocations, deserves so much better.
Hanging the Pride flag in front of City Hall doesn’t mean the city of Fresno endorses the LGBTQ+ lifestyle, or even condones it. It’s merely a symbol of acceptance. We see you. We accept you. You’re part of this community.
Without that acceptance, there can be no “One Fresno.” Not in the truest sense. Dyer needs to come to that realization, scrap any plans for a veto and add his name to the flyer publicizing the June 11 ceremony.
Finding hotel beds for homeless living along Fresno’s freeways, enhancing the city’s “curb appeal,” proposing staff increases to the police and fire departments, those things are all well and good. But this is Dyer’s first real mayoral litmus test.
This story was originally published June 3, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
