In the spring of 2019, Kevin Gifford and Tucker Russell walked into an LGBTQ+ game night at Fresno’s Fig Garden Regional Library and unknowingly stepped into a life-changing role. Approached by organizer Jason Scott, they agreed to volunteer, never imagining how their involvement would deeply impact the local queer community. From fostering friendships to offering support through personal struggles, Kevin and Tucker’s dedication to LGBTQ Fresno’s game night has created a unique and vital space. I sat down with them to learn how their passion for board games ignited a powerful force for connection and acceptance...
I sat down and was able to talk with Kevin and Tucker about how they got involved with the LGBTQ+ community and how long they been involved with the community as well. Tucker said he has been actively involved in the community since 2007 or 2008. When he started getting involved with the community he was a seminary student at Wesley United Methodist Church which is a queer-friendly church in Fresno, California. It is through the church he started getting involved in the community and during his time when he was a seminary student prop 8 came around and started being discussed. So, he started going around collecting signatures, started to protest and march and ever since then he has been active in the community.
Kevin told me that he hadn’t been involved in the community until they got involved in game night. He said they saw an advertisement for game night on Facebook and they were like, “let’s go and check it out,” and at the time, the game night was being hosted once a month at the library. When we were there, Jason approached us and said, “hey, we are looking for volunteers,” and ever since then, we have been running the game nights.
I was wondering what drove Kevin and Tucker to want to get into game night and be volunteers. Kevin told me he always has always had a love for board games, and they are a great way to connect with people. He said that games [are] fun [on their own, but they also] create meaningful social connections. That’s why they started going to the LGBTQ+ game nights—to meet more queer people who love board games, which was a double win. Tucker said that he started getting into board games when he met Kevin and when he saw that LGBTQ Fresno was having a game night and well, we both wanted to go so we could meet new people and meet people that shares Kevin’s hobby. Kevin and Tucker have been running game night since 2019, so I wanted to find out what they have found to be the most rewarding. Kevin said that the social interaction he has experienced among others at game night and the lifelong friendships he has built. Kevin shared that Tucker and him met a couple at game night and built a friendship with them and that the couple moved to Oregon well when both Kevin and Tucker went to Oregon they met up with their friends and were able to play some board games. But if it wasn’t for game night, they would have been able to form that friendship. Tucker said one of the things that he approaches is diversity and the friendships that he built from game night.
I asked Kevin and Tucker if they had a special memory that they would like to share. Kevin said that due to game nights, he has made lifelong friendships with people that he will still play board games with today. Tucker said that we have been doing this for so many years I don’t just have one memory. It has been great to see people that have recently come out they were able to come and build friendships with others. One memory Tucker did share is that a young trans girl and her mom came to game night the daughter just came out and they started sharing with me that her dad was not accepting of her being a trans woman. And because of her coming out as transgender, there was a rift in the family, and they were really struggling with religious identity and religious trauma. Tucker, being an ordained minister, sat down with both the mother and daughter and helped them navigate the theological questions they were facing. That night, instead of playing games, they sat off to the side and talked through all of the theological and biblical questions. It was a meaningful conversation for them, and today, that young woman is thriving. About a year or two later, she came up to Kevin and Tucker and asked if she could call them “Dad.” “So now, we are ‘Dad,’ and we are still close with her. That is a relationship that I will always treasure,” Tucker said.
Game nights are currently three times a month. If you are interested in joining, then you can go on LGBTQFresno and check out their calendar or you can text “events” to 559-862-1040 for game night and event reminders.
Kevin and Tucker stepped down as hosts of LGBTQ+ Fresno game nights in December of 2024 and passed the torch on to Alex and Apryl. However, Kevin and Tucker will always cherish and value all the wonderful memories that everyone has share with them throughout the years. They will still be around at game nights so make sure you stop in and say hi and grab a snack and play a game with Kevin or Tucker.
