The LGBTQ+ community in California’s Central Valley needs your support more than ever | Opinion

After a two-year professional “sabbatical” from the Central Valley, a career change and a season of personal growth, I am looking forward to coming back to the Valley with a new perspective as Fresno Pride coincides with the launch of Pride Month on June 1.

In my new professional role, I have the opportunity to learn about people’s personal stories — stories that are similar to my own. Growing up as a closeted gay teen during the era of Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage, I witnessed much of the hatred directed toward LGBTQ+ folks.

Recently, The Source LGBT+ Center located in Visalia, where I work, received a donation from a generous donor who I met at the church I was actively attending when I was in high school. I hadn’t spoken to this person in close to six years. The donation I received had his name on it, and it was the exact money I was looking to raise from my personal network: $250.

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I was apprehensive about asking personal acquaintances for donations. So receiving the email about the donation was a surprise that led me to wonder why someone I knew years and years ago would donate a sum of money that generous.

I took to Instagram and sent a message of thanks to him. Composing the message, I realized my heart was beating fast — it was a feeling of pure shock and overwhelming gratitude.

One of the first things they teach you in Development 101 is to always ask new donors what inspired them to give. So I did. He said he donated because his sister was traumatized when she came out as a lesbian in the Central Valley. Their father was someone who stuck a “YES on Prop 8” sign in their front yard. Seeing his sister’s own coming out experience, my acquaintance said he felt for the cause to create a sense of belonging for everyone here in Visalia, including members of the LGBTQ+ community, despite having moved to San Diego years ago.

Many LGBTQ+ people often leave the Valley due to the shame and stigma that comes with being openly queer.

His insight and explanation for donating was a reminder that the work The Source does is crucial to community well-being. Our community needs people like me to be bold and live proudly and openly to allow others in the LGBTQ+ community who are not yet ready or able to do the same. It took years of therapy and support to be writing a column like this publicly.

Through my new job, I can give back to the community that helped me grow into the person I am today: a proud young professional who happens to be gay.

With June 1 just around the corner, I am looking forward to being authentic with others and celebrating what unites the queer community and our allies: a desire for a sense of belonging and pride in the Central Valley.

I am thankful for the local leaders and business members that have taken the leap of faith to live publicly as members of the LGBTQ+ community.

It is not lost on me that there are others who cannot come out publicly due to the industry that they work in, or their familial or religious affiliations. This was constantly a fear when I was dating someone from our agricultural sector. My partner at the time risked being ostracized by the farming community, and so I never crossed over to his work events, even though we were living together at the time.

I hope one day that fear is eradicated.

As I work on my first fundraiser for The Source LGBT+ Center, I encourage you to follow us on social media and consider donating $10 toward our Give Out Day fundraiser so that we can fulfill our dream of creating belonging for LGBTQ+ folks in the Central Valley. A monetary gift is one way we can grow toward becoming a community more full of love and centered in equity for all, no matter what color of the rainbow.

Stetler Brown (he/him) is the fundraising and donor relations manager at The Source LGBT+ Center located in Visalia.