Fresno State held its sixth annual Progress Pride Flag Raising ceremony on Wednesday afternoon near the Veterans Monument on campus. The event was hosted by the Student Success and Belonging Center (SSBC), formally known as the Cross-Cultural and Gender Center.
The raising gathered nearly 200 students, faculty, Fresno State officials and the public around the flagpole to show their commitment to the LGBTQ+ community.
Verselles Cummings, the director of the SSBC, said that Fresno State is an amazing place for the LGBTQ+ community to be authentic to themselves, but Fresno itself has a long way to go.
“There’s debates taking place in our school, in our community, our library and our government about whether we’re where you belong, whether our stories should be told and whether our identities deserve recognition and respect,” Cummings said.
This sentiment was echoed by the events’ speakers, and it’s something the local LGBTQ+ community is experiencing.
In May, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors voted to prevent libraries from taking part in any Pride events.
Cummings said that these actions create questions around safety, respect, opportunities and acceptance along with a fear for the LGBTQ+ community being able to be themselves. However, despite these challenges, he said that people still cultivate a future where joy and love trample those ideas of exclusion.
“One of the greatest gifts of the queer community, our ability to imagine a future larger than the limitations, larger than the fear, larger than the shame,” Cummings said. “It is the freedom to bring every part of ourselves into the light.”
Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval said during his speech that the purpose of events like this is not only to support the education of LGBTQ+ students, but to advocate for all members of the community to have a safe and healthy environment.
Jiménez-Sandoval also said that LGBTQ+ people are valuable and strong members of Fresno State, saying they can help make Fresno State a more creative and compassionate school, calling them an “essential part of the Fresno State story.”
“We recognize and celebrate the important contributions of our LGBTQ+ students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends,” Jiménez-Sandoval said.
He added that his commitment and promises to the LGBTQ+ community extend from Pride month and into the whole year.
Jiménez-Sandoval also said that LGBTQ+ experiences are often shaped by courage and beauty, but are also affected by loss and exclusion. With the raising of the flag, he hopes to send students a message that they matter.
“Fresno State says to our LGBTQ plus community, you belong here,” Jiménez-Sandoval said. “We celebrate your profound contributions to our university, to the Central Valley, to the world. And we are stronger because of you.”
Jiménez-Sandoval will also be one of four grand marshals during Fresno’s 36th annual Rainbow Pride Parade on June 6 in Fresno’s Tower District, starting at 10 a.m.
The next Fresno State Pride event will take place on June 4 at 5 p.m., where professor Kat Fobear and Oasis Legal Services will host the “Seeking Sanctuary,” a photography showcase for the LGBTQ+ in the Central Valley at the Graduate Art Studios at M Street.
