FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) \u2014\u00a0On Tuesday, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors meeting is expected to draw debate as county leaders consider whether to support Pride Month activities at local libraries.<\/p>\n
The item is scheduled to go before the board on Tuesday morning. Fresno County Supervisor Garry Bredefeld told Action News he plans to oppose the item.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the meeting, activists, advocates and local leaders gathered outside the Hall of Records in Downtown Fresno, calling for unity and solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community one month before Pride Month.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe the public libraries are sacred places whose mission is to welcome people of all ages, all backgrounds, and of all beliefs,\u201d said Rev. Tim Kutzmark of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno.<\/p>\n
In a social media post made by Bredefeld last week, he wrote in part that \u201cthe Board of Supervisors will be asked by the Fresno County Library to approve and support their ongoing efforts to indoctrinate young children regarding the LGBTQ political agenda,\u201d adding that he \u201cwill fight against what the library is doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Advocates pushed back on that characterization.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an attack on our queer and transgender youth. It is obvious bullying. It is obvious virtue signaling,\u201d said Tracie Cisneros, a parent and the Volunteer Coordinator with Fresno Rainbow Pride.<\/p>\n
Bredefeld defended his position, saying children should be able to access library materials without exposure to what he described as ideology.<\/p>\n
\u201cKids ought to be able to go to the library like we did when we were young, learn about history and whatever else they want to without having some ideology crammed down their throats,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Last year, Supervisors passed a policy requiring county departments to obtain board approval to sponsor events. The board also approved a motion requiring other celebrations or recognitions to receive approval.<\/p>\n
During an interview, Bredefeld drew a distinction between Pride Month and other cultural observances.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very different. They\u2019re promoting the sexualization of children. We\u2019ve seen it with drag queen shows in the library. It\u2019s very evident. It\u2019s evident it\u2019s destructive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Supporters of the library\u2019s efforts expressed concern about potential impacts on LGBTQIA+ youth.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can disagree with something that\u2019s there, it doesn\u2019t mean you have to engage with it,\u201d said community activist Stetler Brown.<\/p>\n
Bredefeld said there is no plan to ban or remove Pride-themed books from libraries.<\/p>\n
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors meeting is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Copyright \u00a9 2026 KFSN-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) \u2014\u00a0On Tuesday, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors meeting is expected to draw debate as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-312595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}