After a turbulent few months between the gay and lesbian community and Mayor Autry the GLBT community came together for Fresno’s first ever National Coming out Day celebration on Sunday October 10th members of the gay and lesbian community.
Several members of the community came together to put this event together including: Baltimore Gonzalez and Robert Flanagan of Marriage Equality California along with the assistance of community website resource operators, Jason Scott and Randy Gray. We were very glad to see at least 100 members of the community come out for equality on such short notice. This event was not in direct response to the Mayors decision to not sign a proclamation that he was presented with earlier in the month. The theme of this event was “Come Out. Speak Out. Vote.” As a strong showing of our community coming together a large reproduction of the Coming Out Day proclamation was presented and signed by individuals in attendance. Speakers included: Baltimore Gonzalez Fresno Chapter leader Marriage Equality California, Rev. Bryan Jessup of the Unitarian Universalist church, CCA president Sue Stone, Mike Martinez of QueerFresno, Chris Esqueda of United Student Pride, Robert Flanagan of MECA, and Robin McGehee of Central California Alliance. Sponsors included: Déjà Vu nightclub, MECA, FresnoPride.com. Event organizers provided free space for refreshment sales by Fresno’s Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) and deeply appreciate the community work this organization does. Voter registration services were being handled by Fresno Stonewall Democrats. History: National Coming Out Day is celebrated every Oct. 11 to mark the anniversary of the 1987 March on Washington for Gay and Lesbian rights. Each year since, thousands of GLBT people and allies have celebrated National Coming Out Day in schools, churches and businesses nationwide through workshops, speak-outs, rallies and other events aimed at showing the public that GLBT people are everywhere.
