\u201cTo that I say hell no,\u201d Bredefeld said, specifically referring to the five-year commitment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The requests made by the library department at Tuesday\u2019s meeting are not necessarily new. The county\u2019s library and public health departments, for example, have recognized or participated in local Pride events before.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, the board passed a pair of policies last year that changed the status quo for how departments participate in local events. Specifically, they passed legislation to force departments to gain board approval before spending their discretionary funding<\/a>, and before they can celebrate a holiday in their official capacity as county employees<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n LGBTQ+ advocates at the time said these policies were attacks on their community, and that they would be used as a tool to prevent county workers from participating in Pride events. The board did not necessarily disagree with those claims.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bredefeld posted on social media last week<\/a>, inviting constituents who shared his views to show up to Tuesday\u2019s meeting to voice their opinion.\u00a0<\/p>\n That post set off a social media reaction among more progressive local advocates, who rallied support to try and stop the effort.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n At the Tuesday meeting, building security restricted entry into the chambers after the board chambers reached capacity well before the meeting started. There were dozens of\u00a0 individuals who were barred from entry at the start of the meeting.<\/p>\n The hearing\u2019s public comment period saw over a dozen speakers opposing and supporting the proposition. Both sides were capped to just 15 speakers and only a minute of speaking time.<\/p>\n Residents in favor of the library participating in Pride month events ranged from local community organizers, drag queens and local faith-based leaders. Madison Neil, a local resident, said that the board was responsible for \u201cmanufactured outrage\u201d surrounding the library\u2019s role in Pride.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of you erroneously believe that you can legislate us out of existence,\u201d said Drew Harbaugh, co-chair of PFlag<\/a>, a Fresno-based LGBTQ+ advocacy organization.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tracy Cisneros, a volunteer coordinator for Fresno Rainbow Pride, also spoke during public comment. Not wanting money to be cited as a hurdle for the board\u2019s approval, she said that the event would waive the fees for the library and all other county departments who wanted to participate in the event.<\/p>\n County documents show that the library was requesting $125 to participate in this year\u2019s Fresno Rainbow Pride, an event that follows the annual Pride parade.\u00a0<\/p>\n But many also showed up to oppose the library\u2019s participation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Among them was Diane Pearce, Clovis Mayor Pro-Tempore, and a potential candidate for the county\u2019s board of supervisors.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pearce said that the library\u2019s promotion of LGBTQ+ literature was part of an \u201cindoctrination\u201d and in the hopes to promote a political agenda.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c(It) strays into inappropriate and unwelcome advocacy,\u201d Pearce said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Others argued that, the same way they don\u2019t impose their faith on others, they do not want to see LGBTQ+-related materials forced upon them or their children.\u00a0<\/p>\n Many of those members in opposition would cite their faith when speaking on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHomosexuality is a sin. There\u2019s no argument against that,\u201d said Bill Scott, a public commenter Tuesday who added that he had two brothers who are gay and that he \u201clove(s) them dearly.\u201d<\/p>\n Other speakers, who were parents, said they would prefer the responsibility of talking about LGBTQ+-related issues falling on parents, not with outside organizations like the library.\u00a0<\/p>\n Board Vice Chair Luis Chavez and Supervisor Brian Pacheco held more progressive views on the matter, and they dissented with the board\u2019s conservative majority.\u00a0 Frustrated, Chavez said on Tuesday that \u201cit seems to be a yearly tradition\u201d that the board discusses LGBTQ+-related issues at their meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI am certainly not going to support banning books, censoring them, hiding them, or placing them in the closet of the back of a library with the illusion that if we do that, somehow gay folks are going to disappear from our community,\u201d Chavez said.<\/p>\n Though Bredefeld and Chavez are only in their second year in office, this is the fourth year in a row that the board has drawn large public scrutiny from their constituents and the media in library and LGBTQ+-related issues.<\/p>\n In 2023<\/a>, Bredefeld\u2019s predecessor Steve Brandau introduced legislation to form a new committee to review children\u2019s books at public libraries. The effort carried on for over a year, and only died after state lawmakers passed legislation banning such practices<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n A copy<\/a> of an internal memo<\/a> created by the county\u2019s legal counsel obtained by Fresnoland shows that the board\u2019s attorneys believe that book bans are out of bounds, but that the governing body does have the right to carry out Tuesday\u2019s actions.\u00a0<\/p>\n The library\u2019s department head Sally Gomez said at Tuesday\u2019s meeting that the librarians choose which holidays to celebrate based on community requests. She said they typically go where they\u2019re invited and that they only reject requests for logistical issues, largely due to constraints in resources and budget, or if the event seeks to make money out of the library\u2019s participation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Acknowledging the resource and budget limits, Magsig said that the library should consider going to events that give the county the most \u201cbang for our buck,\u201d and should create \u201ca methodology where we reject and don\u2019t go to certain things.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Though before the vote, Bredefeld held what some would consider a victory lap during his comments on Tuesday. The supervisor championed his efforts last year to successfully remove \u201cDEI language\u201d from the county\u2019s hiring materials<\/a> last year, and the passing of both guardrail policies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Bredefeld added that the library may continue to see scrutiny past Tuesday\u2019s meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI have a feeling we\u2019re going to have a problem in 2028 and I think this board may have to look at privatizing the library in light of what\u2019s going on,\u201d Bredefeld said in a comment that resulted in a wave of boos from the crowd.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DSC1817.jpg\")
Drag queen Morrigana Regina was among the speakers who spoke in support of the library\u2019s participation in LGBTQ+ events. Pablo Orihuela | Fresnoland<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DSC1825.jpg\")
Clovis City Councilmember and Mayor Pro Tempore Diane Pearce was among the speakers on Tuesday that spoke against the county library participating in LGBTQ+ events. Pablo Orihuela | Fresnoland<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DSC1820.jpg\")
Multiple members at Tuesday\u2019s meeting brought and displayed books inside the board chambers on Tuesday. Pablo Orihuela | Fresnoland<\/p>\n