For the past six years, the City of San Fernando has raised the Pride flag outside City Hall every June for Pride Month. While not a big event, the ceremony usually draws a modest crowd of LGBTQ+ supporters from in and around the Northeast Valley.
But at this year’s ceremony on June 6, the number of attendees was even smaller than before. Aside from a handful of supporters waving a few Pride flags of their own, the street outside City Hall was mostly empty.
The ceremony was carried out as usual, with City of San Fernando staff and councilmembers, although Vice Mayor Victoria Garcia and Mary Solorio did not attend.
Kevin Perez, cofounder of Somos Familia Valle, a valley-based LGBTQ+ community organization, attributed the small attendance to events occurring at the same time.
“We might be small [in number], but we’re still celebrating. All of Los Angeles is celebrating,” Perez said. “I know West Hollywood [Pride] is happening right now, but here in the corner of San Fernando, the corner of LA, we are still raising the flag.”
The raising of the Pride flag, or anything related to Gay Pride, has always carried controversy in this small, mostly Latino city. In 2023, some residents who described themselves as “Christian” had requested that the city raise a Christian flag during religious holidays. They maintained that the city was showing support for the LGBTQ+ community, but was not representing “conservative residents.”
The city turned down the request and subsequently established a new policy that established procedures for the display of commemorative flags – ones that identify with a specific historical event, cause or nation – but would not allow the display of flags of any particular religious movement, political party affiliation or that advocates for a specific election outcome.
The city’s response angered these residents, some of whom considered calling for a recall of the council, but no action was ultimately taken.
The following year, a large group of “parental rights” protestors successfully blocked a planned Drag Story Hour reading at the San Fernando Library in October. Although no violence ensued, Pickle the Drag Queen, who was scheduled to lead the storytime event, said her civil rights were violated when the crowd prevented her from entering the library. It was aggressive enough that the library staff canceled the event and LA County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath, who was inside the library, was escorted to her car as protesters shouted insults at her.
Perez, well aware of the city’s conservative reputation, noted that there has been support within the area for the LGBTQ+ community, including from businesses that include San Fernando Brewing Company and The Midnight Hour Records. San Fernando Brewing held an event on June 3 to kick off Pride Month, and will hold another event on June 30 to close it out.
At Saturday’s ceremony, he noted that his own organization, Somos Familia Valle, was hosting a mixer at the organization’s Sun Valley center at the same time. The annual WeHo Pride had returned to West Hollywood for three days of events that included a music festival, street fair and a march.
When asked if the small number of attendees was concerning, Perez said, “I think regardless of the amount of people, the community is still here and they’re out. They know there are multiple events happening … I think they’ll show their support. It’s not like we’re hiding.”
And speaking of support, Perez said that there needs to be more investment in and hiring of local LGBTQ+ community members. When people come to Somos Familia Valle for assistance, Perez said that many of them need help with job access and training. This particular Pride Month, he added, more companies are stepping back in their investments towards LGBTQ+ events and nonprofits.
“We’re always going to be celebrating Pride, but … if there’s no investment in our communities, then there are going to be more health issues and other concerning issues, so that’s what we’re trying to address,” Perez said.
Manuel Saucedo, a gay man living in the City of San Fernando and one of the few to attend the flag raising ceremony, was in agreement with that sentiment, saying, “I think we have [a lot of] historic actions and movements in the history for LGBTQ+ rights, but we still have a long way [to go].
“I know that sometimes even within our community there are some ideas of what it is to be LGBT and what it’s not, but we are about diversity, so we should embrace all this diversity.”