Pride 2026: Rural LGBTQ+ Communities' Joy Outshines the Shadow of Hate

Happy Pride, Friends!  What a month this has been.  

At CRLA, we kicked off the month coming together for our All-Staff Conference, spending a week in sunny UC Merced. Because our work spans rural communities across California, these conferences are a rare opportunity to reconnect, learn from one another, and strengthen the relationships that make our work possible. 

This conference was particularly special because, as part of our 60th anniversary celebrations, we invited CRLA alumni for a reunion and speaking engagements—including featured alumni speaker Judge Lisa J. Cisneros, who founded our LGBTQ+ Justice program. 

That same week, I had the honor and privilege of giving the keynote at the Pride flag raising ceremony at Fresno State, surrounded by an incredible crowd who came out despite the early June heatwave. I shared my belief that symbols like the Pride flag communicate who belongs. Fresno, the Central Valley, and the broader rural California communities deserve to see themselves reflected in Pride and reflected in conversations about LGBTQ+ justice.

From City Council to SCOTUS, Decisions Signal Who Belongs (and Who Doesn't)

A few days later, community members packed the Oakdale City Council meeting to support and oppose the first ever Oakdale Pride festival. While our partners at CalPride were organizing a day to create much needed safe space for the LGBTQ+ community in Stanislaus County, the City heard public comments urging them to revoke the permit for the event—arguing, among more hateful things, that “the heritage of [their] town is under attack.”  

The very next day, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors officially declared June as “Traditional Nuclear Family Month” defining a nuclear family as “one husband, one wife, and any biological, adopted, or fostered children”, asserting this “is God’s design for familial structure.”

Now, today, on the last day of Pride Month, the highest court of the land has handed down an opinion that allows for trans girls to be banned from girls’ sports teams.  

This is the life of queer folks in rural California. Where moments of joy and community can quickly be overshadowed by hate. These decisions signal who belongs, who matters, whose experiences get attention, who is safe.  

SB 59: A Glimpse of What's Possible

Right now, it’s easy to feel isolation and a loss of hope. When the current climate is so bleak, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s possible when people are free to live and prosper. But, we are nothing if not resilient and determined and fierce. We refuse to accept that this is how the world should work.  

Even in difficult moments, we continue to see what’s possible. We’ve seen that in victories like SB 59, which started as individual CRLA cases where trans people in the Central Valley challenged court practices that refused to honor their privacy, and ultimately led to state-wide legislation ensuring people seeking a name and gender marker correction would not have to fear being outed or endangered through public court records.  

Learn more about SB 59 and check out our free resources. 

Pride's Vision of Justice Belongs in Rural California

Pride began as collective action and collective care because those who came before us knew that we would never realize justice if we turn away from each other. They knew justice starts with community.

This weekend, I carried those ancestors with me as I enjoyed the day in Oakdale with my kids. Yes, the event moved to a different location. Yes, the planners took some additional safety precautions. Yes, as a family we did our own safety planning before attending. We absolutely should not have had to do any of that, but in the end nothing stopped us from enjoying Oakdale Pride, from spending the day in community, and celebrating our joy and our pride.  

Pride reminds us that none of us are meant to build a more just world alone. We do it together—through courage, through community, through our shared belief that people should never have to choose between their authenticity and belonging, safety, and justice. 

That vision of justice belongs right here in the rural communities we proudly call home.