Mission & Vision
Solano Pride Center builds community and provides services for Solano County’s LGBTQIA2S+ people and our allies. Solano Pride Center envisions a community where all LGBTQIA2S+ people live freely and authentically.
Do you get our weekly eBlasts on Wednesday afternoons? If not, or if you need to update your email, follow this link to register for our weekly eBlasts. Look below for some of our latest eBlasts.
Can’t find what you are looking for? We no longer include much about our differing programs here on the home page. Go under the Program button in the menu or go to these links:
Mental Health Resources, https://www.solanopride.org/mental-health-resources/
Support and social groups, https://www.solanopride.org/social-and-support-groups
Senior Programs: https://www.solanopride.org/senior-programs/
Youth Programs: https://www.solanopride.org/youth-programs/
HIV Prevention & Support: https://www.solanopride.org/hiv-prevention-support/
Blood Drives: https://www.solanopride.org/blood-drives/
Volunteering: https://www.solanopride.org/volunteering/
Trainings & Presentations: https://www.solanopride.org/trainings/
Protests & Advocacy: https://www.solanopride.org/protests-advocacy/
Studies: https://www.solanopride.org/studies/
Regional LGBTQ+ Partners: https://www.solanopride.org/regional-lgbtq-partners/
Library: https://www.solanopride.org/library/
Food Resources: https://www.solanopride.org/food-resources/
Events:
Spring into Pride Dinner: https://www.solanopride.org/spring-into-pride-2026/
Suisun Pride 2026: https://www.solanopride.org/suisun-pride-2026/
Suisun Pride 2025: https://www.solanopride.org/suisun-pride-2025/
Suisun Pride 2024: https://www.solanopride.org/suisun-pride-2024/
Pride Center Events: https://www.solanopride.org/pride-center-events/
Community Events: https://www.solanopride.org/community-events/
See the new Trainings and Food Resources pages above under Programs, and our new Spring into Pride Dinner page and the Suisun Pride 2026 page under events! More info coming soon!
Letter from the Center:
Wednesday, January 28th, 2026
Dear Friends,
What the hell is happening to our country? The same thing that has always happened when elites think they can get away with it…
The Guardian had an interesting article that pointed out that “Eight people have died in dealings with ICE soar far in 2026. Here are their stories.” There are probably more people that we haven’t heard about, especially since there has been so many coverups regarding the concentration camps the US government is operating around the country. As more and more people – citizens and undocumented people alike – it is also important for us to know that of the 600,000 people deported as of Jan 17th. 230,00 were arrested inside the county, and another 270,000 at the border, another 40,000 opting for self-deportation. The other dangerous part of this process that our media has failed to discuss as much as needed is that 1.6 million immigrants have had their immigration status revoked. Some of them were in process of receiving asylum, becoming citizens, and they have deported folx who had already received citizenship. This is unacceptable, as this amounts to the GOP choosing the race of future voters in this country, dismantling constitutional processes for becoming citizens, and even targeting people of color, DACA recipients, Indigenous Americans, and even LGBTQIA2S+ naturalized citizens (who came here to flee persecution in their home countries).
For those of us whose families came here as a refuge, it feels as if the country is turning its back on who we are. And yet, the roundups are reminiscent of other eras in US history, such as the Slave Patrols, resistance to the Reconstruction era, the Jim Crow South, and even the eras of Native American removal and containment, the surveillance of Mexican immigrants, immigration restrictions, and the Rodney King riots. We must now let this become normalized, as much as the Right believes they can make such moves with impunity. The tide is turning, and we can join boycotts, sit ins, educational events, and share our time and talents with local resistance strategies. Save Sat. March 28th for the 3rd No Kings Rallies, or check out our Protests and Advocacy page for more info here. Our resistance must be on behalf of all families, chosen or otherwise, to meet the needs of the moment, to reclaim a democracy for all.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/28/deaths-ice-2026-
Wednesday, January 21st, 2026
We will be having a fabulous Fundraising Dinner on Sunday, March 1st at BackRoad Vines, with two seatings starting at 5:30 & 7:15 pm!
Dear Friends,
We will be having a fabulous Fundraising Dinner on Sunday, March 1st at BackRoad Vines, with two seatings starting at 5:30 & 7:15 pm!
Register now to grab your tickets!
- $100.00 per person, or
- $500.00 for your company or association to Sponsor a Table of 6 for !
Now at two seatings! 5:30 and 7:15 pm. (Hurry, as there are a limited number of tickets!)
• Enjoy Trans comedian “Natasha Muse” sharing their comedy and emceeing the evening! She’s a San Francisco-based comedian who regularly headlines at Cobb’s Comedy Club and the San Francisco Punchline, and she’s also a Sketchfest winner.
• Drag performances from regional Drag Queens and Kings to be announced.
• Support the life-saving programs at Solano Pride Center at a festive dinner with silent auctions, prizes, and a fabulous photo booth!
• Enjoy a fun-filled night with music, laughter and community!
• You can’t beat the great food, wine, and views at Backroad Vines-one of our most faithful supporters! (Dinner includes appetizers, a welcome drink, menu with vegetarian option, and dessert! And there will be gluten-free, sugar-free, and dairy-free options.) No host bar.
Register today at https://bit.ly/4pKBIsG. Questions can be sent to me at will@solanopride.org.
Are you or your business interested in Sponsoring at Suisun Pride 2026? Follow this link to share your interest, or sign up to Sponsor today!
This year we’ve updated our website to include www.suisunpride.com for our May 31st Pride Festival! It’s still under construction, but look for links for applications to be a Sponsor, have a booth, be a performer, or food vendor!
There will even be a new mascot for Suisun Pride, 2026! In the meantime, follow the Interest Form (here) to let us know what you’d like to share, perform, sponsor or sell your wares!
Monday, January 12, 2025:
A Statement on Renee Nicole Good from the Board of Solano Pride Center
On January 7th, 2026, a 37-year-old woman, Renee Nicole Good, was murdered by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The videos, from all angles, show an illegal shooting by the ICE agent.
Numerous law enforcement use of force experts as well as legal experts who have done in-depth reviews of multiple videos of the shooting of Renee Good by Jonathon Ross agree that this shooting not only does not meet the legal standard of a justified shooting, but it was also a direct violation of DOJ’s own “Use of Deadly Force Policy 1-16.200” both specifically regarding fleeing suspects and/or shooting at moving vehicles. Whether a police officer fears for his/her life is seen by the court as what is in his/her mind at the time of the incident. Ross’ own video is proof that not only was Ms. Good not acting in an aggressive or angry manner, but it showed definitively that he was not afraid and was in fact, angry. He walked around the car with his phone in his gun hand twice while recording video. He moved his phone to his off-hand prior to drawing his weapon, and he never dropped his phone during the entire incident. Additionally, he issued what is known as an excited utterance after the shooting which can be used in court to show state of mind, which obviously showed he was angry rather than afraid.
Public servants must adhere to the rules of engagement, and legal analysts that have seen multiple viewpoints all agree that this shooting was unlawful and unnecessary.
Many of us have joined rallies and protests in regard to ICE’s activities under the Trump Administration. We care about our neighbors, friends and family. We care about our country and the future. Currently the President of the United States is targeting marginalized demographics, overwhelming communities and harassing individuals.
Renee Good is merely the victim this week. In 2025, 30+ people were killed by ICE. Not to mention how many people have gone missing and been sent to El Salvador’s CECOT prison, where the living conditions are so horrific, that the Trump Administration pressured CBS to pull a 60 Minutes’ report about those conditions to keep the propaganda from the Trump Administration safe from the truth of horrors. Thankfully Canadian citizens released the footage on YouTube.
Last year, as members of the Solano Pride Center, staff, volunteers and the board, we began small and quiet conversations around fear. The LGBTQIA2S+ community was in the sights of the Trump Administration, in particular the Transgender members of our community, and even more directly transgender youth trying to utilize gender affirming medical treatment. We were organizing for Pride month, doing presentations, going to No Kings rallies, providing intimate talks about who we are and how we need not just Allies that can turn off their involvement (thank you Auntie Jeriann Guzman from Solano Serenity Center), but Accomplices who are always on our side no matter the audience or circumstance. Normally we would just show up, perform, and then manage the destruction to our mental well-being in private. Now, we were discussing our fears and how being brave doesn’t mean we aren’t afraid, it just means doing whatever is needed anyway.
Renee and her wife and all of the others on that Minneapolis street, were recording, observing and civilly disobeying in order to slow down the efforts of fascism to erode our constitution. She and they were being brave, and it cost Renee her life. She was a valued member of the community, a mother, a wife, a friend, a daughter, and millions of things that encompass the reality of one human being. No one deserves to be treated the way ICE is currently treating the people they interact with.
It doesn’t matter if someone mouthed off or disobeyed an “order,” no one is automatically sentenced to death. The officer took the law into his own hands. It doesn’t matter if he was scared, or if he viewed the vehicle as a threat, he had no right to execute Renee. This is why we have the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, Laws, Policies and Procedures, let alone Oaths of Service and Ethical Codes, so that human beings aren’t just murdered in cold blood in the street.
We think about all of the stories in our country about resisting tyranny. The Boston Tea Party, Nat Turner, Harper’s Ferry, the Underground Railroad, Ruby Bridges, Rosa Parks, Edmund Pettus Bridge crossing for voting rights, Cesar Chavez, Harvey Milk, Kent State, Black Panther Party, Compton’s Cafeteria, Stonewall, Rainbow Coalition, Occupy, Black Lives Matter, NOH8, No Kings.
John Lewis encouraged Good Trouble, sit ins, protests, civil disobedience, educating and registering to vote, all non-violent forms of resistance. We know he would include observing, recording and making it difficult for masked individuals to kidnap human beings to destinations unknown, because he and Renee and we already know the poem…
“…first they came for the…” And they always eventually will come for us.
Be angry, cry tears of grief for a Lesbian wife and mother lost in one of the most violent ways. Then, we encourage action. For Renee, for Nex Benedict for Matthew Shepard, Trayvon Martin and George Floyd, for all of us.
The fight for freedom has been going on since the dawn of recorded history. Now is our time, eyes wide open, filled with fear of the unknown, building a new world one foot fall after the next, one quivering breath after another, until we are all truly free.
Stay woke – take care of yourself and your chosen family – and stay connected to community.
Board of Solano Pride Center
Ways to get involved:
Donate or Volunteer with the Solano Pride Center
Bay Area Rapid Response: https://www.ccijustice.org/carrn
Pramila for Congress trainings: https://www.pramilaforcongress.com/the-resistance-lab
Also published on our Substack here:
A Statement on Renee Nicole Good from the Board of Solano Pride Center
https://substack.com/@solanopridecenter1/note/p-184400662?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=4044wo
Stephan’s Corner
Stephan’s Corner
Heavy Heart
It feels like someone died. I don’t know if everyone feels like this, but whenever someone close: family, friends, colleagues, clients, patients, neighbors, just close in proximity, I feel it heavily in my body. It is similar to grief or depression or experiencing an anniversary of a traumatic event, except often I don’t know who is dying or has died until hours or days later, sometimes never. Being estranged from family due to queerness, this often causes me extreme anxiety because I may never know if someone that was once important to me has died, but my body and soul will feel it regardless.
Recently our family experienced a medical emergency and my wife was headed toward sepsis and spent 7 days in the hospital. We have been together 30 years this October. We have often joked that we don’t know where one of us begins and ends anymore. It was an incredibly scary experience and while she is healing, and we have more time, I know that both of us will never be ready for the “end”, as no time with the ones we love is ever long enough.
I didn’t have a lot of hope that 2026 would be any better than 2025. I knew we would all have to stand together in order to merely survive. When Renee Good was murdered and then I read about Keith Porter Jr. murdered in our own state, I sat watching Minneapolis pull together as a community with tens of thousands of people in the freezing temperature emphatically standing up to fascist authority, I was humbled by the humanity of strangers standing together, and I was afraid of what would happen next. Then the video of Alex Pretti spread across all of our phones, a VA nurse was executed less than four miles from where George Floyd was murdered in 2020.
I really do wonder when they will stop murdering us. This fear people have of their own death, creating boogey humans in their brains that leads to this hate to decimate and shred apart the lives of families and their communities. At this point the American people have lost more than they’ve received in the last 50 years and marginalized groups had only just begun to breathe simple acknowledgments of their plight and needs before white supremacy under Trump slapped us all backward.
I have often said that we should all strive to find and follow our dreams, follow our hearts and wander until we find home. As someone privileged enough to have held that in my hands for even the shortest of times, I am beginning to feel that my home is dying and that the awakening of what America has always been is destroying me from the inside out. I know many of you feel the same, and I offer free hugs whenever you see me to grieve publicly the loss of everything we naively believed.
What I believe in now, is you. There is no future without each other, and I am not a giving up kinda human, no matter how hard things get, my life is a testimony to that reality.
Take stock, take breaks, self care is imperative, and really, check on each other. Most of us here in Solano County aren’t used to expressing our emotions or asking for help. It might just be time for that, even if we don’t need to know why, we can sit silently and recharge each other. We have a bunch of support groups for just that. If something more private is needed, our counselors are ready to walk with us through this.
I am not a soothsayer, and what I do know is that we all deserve way better than this. May we all work together to build that world. Hope to see you at the groups, social gatherings, fundraisers (our first real major dinner one is coming up fast on March 1st! Tell your friends!) and of course PRIDE.
Your Board President in service
Stephan Clifford
Stephan@solanopride.org
Special SPC Poetry & Writing Anthology Benefit Project Announced! Call for submissions by Feb 1st, 2025.
It was a dark and stormy night
When at my desk I began to write
Of things poetic and such
And things that might impress me much. (apologies to Shania Twain)
Of talents wasted or quite unknown
Of slighted authors we bemoan
Yet, what light thru yonder window gleams?
Groupings of stories, prose, and poems, it seems.
Solano Pride doth beg your submission
With cheery smile and signed permission
To share your works for published glory
Be they sweet or silly or even gory
Make haste to share your treasured text
With brains afire and muscles flexed
They be due by end of next January
So send them to us and do not tarry!M. West
If you’d like to submit an original poem, short story, haiku or other artistic representation by February 1st, 2026. If we have enough to create an anthology of all of our writing as a fundraiser for the Solano Pride Center.
Email submissions to spc@solanopride.org with a short written certification that the item is of your own creation, and that you give permission for it to be included in a fundraising anthology on behalf of the Center.
Want to help us raise funds for the Center?
Can you spare a few dollars to help keep the Center open during these trying times?
LGBTQIA2S+ Centers across the state are experiencing a drop in donations, and your support is crucial to help us continue delivering the life-saving services our community depends on.
We are recognizing that the uncertainty since then has definitely affected giving for our life-sustaining programs. If you are in a place to share financially right now, we definitely need your help right now. You can even set up a monthly donation of as little as $5 a month, which helps us more than you can know.
If you are giving to our General Fund to support all of our programming, you can give through our portal on Zeffy at https://tinyurl.com/Give2SolanoPride. Donate today!
Thanks to all of those who helped Solano Pride Center turn candy into cash!
Thank you for supporting the Solano Pride Center! We’ll receive profits from any items you purchase.
Red Cross Blood Drives come to Solano Pride Center!
Next Red Cross Blood Drive will be scheduled soon…
Not everyone can give blood…but everyone is eligible to volunteer. Registration link is here!
There aren’t the same restrictions there used to be against our community, so schedule a time to come to the Conference Room off the Main Entrance to the Center’s building, and come out Friday, October 10th. https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=SPBDF
See our new Blood Drives website under Programs in the menu above….
Solano Pride Center offers counseling and psychotherapy to the LGBTQ+ community of Solano County.
There are openings available for those who wish to be seen for counseling services right now! We can even talk to you if you just want to make sense of the times we live in. We are able to see clients for up to six months at no cost to clients, helping you make sense of life as a queer person, get support coming out, or deepening your self confidence by talking about your past. Please call our confidential line to make an appointment at: 707-389-4520.
In addition Solano Pride Center is accepting application from Associate Clinicians (AMFT and ACSW) in addition to trainees needing practicum sites who are interested in providing therapy to the LGBTQ community. Please contact our Clinical Director Colin Amato at colin@solanopride.org for more info.
Have you ever been near the end of your rope, and need someone to help you find the resources you need to survive? Solano Pride Center staff can help! Many of our staff know much about the County’s support system, and can help you sign up for food assistance, Medi-Cal, and even give you referrals to our sister organizations serving those in need around the county. Give Kacen Cosmos, our Associate Clinical Social Worker a jingle or email to learn more.
For more Mental Health Resources, https://www.solanopride.org/mental-health-resources/
Here’s a write up by Izzy Krumenacker (on the left) about our trip to the Castro and Tenderloin to learn about LGBTQIA2S+ history in the city.
A report back from Izzy (left of picture) after our trip to the Castro & Tenderloin
Going into San Francisco with Solano Pride Center was a truly wonderful and informative experience. Executive Director Will’s knowledge of and experience with the city made it easy to learn about the city’s history and current relevance in the world (with emphasis on, but not limited to, the LGBTQ+ aspects). While I personally have always felt at home in SF, I can recognize that safety is always a concern, and I can confidently say that awareness exists in the Solano Pride staff and that there was not one moment where I felt unsafe on that trip. From the GLBT Historical Society Museum in the Castro giving direct and interesting information, to walking along Market getting a verbal history of queer life beyond what we see as the gay neighborhoods of SF, I gained a new kind of knowledge from this experience that all my time spent studying researching have not given me previously. My personal favorite part was going to the Tenderloin Museum. The museum gave an interactive history of a neighborhood that is so significant to the history of San Francisco, queer forks across the US, and various forms of media. It gives perspectives and info that school systems almost always fail to provide. Ultimately, it was a great experience that I look forward to helping give to anyone who attends in November.
Izzy Krumenacker
Castro District tour for 9-12th graders is an opportunity to go to the city on the Ferry, learn to use Bart/Muni/Ferry, learn about Queer History, and have a fun time together.
Register with Trystan@solanopride.org today! $25 contribution, and SPC will pay for the rest of the travel costs. Bring funds you want to spend for lunch, snacks and drinks.
9-12th Grade Queer History Field Trip to the City, learning how to use public transit, from Ferry, BART & Muni! Download the Permission slip below, having it filled out and given to Trystan by Wednesday, January 28th at 9 am to trystan@solanopride.org!
Vacaville LGBTQ+ Network
Want to join the new “Vacaville LGBTQ+ Network” on Facebook? Go to this link on facebook, and ask to join! https://www.facebook.com/groups/652492897897233/.
The next social we will have is a St. Paddie’s Day Party potluck dinner at a local home in Vacaville on Tuesday, March 17th! Contact will@solanopride.org if you want to help plan the night!
See more VGN, Benicia LGBTQ+ Network socials and more at our Regional Partners Page here: https://www.solanopride.org/regional-lgbtq-partners/
We now have a Library page under programs above where you can see some of the books highlighted from our Library! Check it out here: https://www.solanopride.org/library/
LOUNGE LIBRARY RESOURCES:
We have the power to read books! We don’t need any expensive gadgets to read a book. We don’t need any cables, monitors or electricity for that matter. What we do need is the want to read. We might even have to change some gears so that we can get in the habit of reading. Now in the New Release section!
Introducing Teddy: a gentle story about Gender and Friendship
by Jessica Walton, illustrated by Dougal MacPherson
Errol and his teddy, Thomas, are best friends who do everything together. Whether it’s riding a bike, playing in the tree house, having a tea party, or all of the above, every day holds something fun to do.
One sunny day, Errol finds that Thomas is sad, even when they are playing in their favorite ways. Errol can’t figure out why, until Thomas finally tells Errol what the teddy has been afraid to say: “In my heart, I’ve always known that I’m a girl teddy, not a boy teddy. I wish my name was Tilly, not Thomas.” And Errol says, “I don’t care if you’re a girl teddy or a boy teddy! What matters is that you are my friend.” Link.
We have a recording!
Did you miss some of the letters from Will this year? There are links near the end of the home page with links to every eBlast going back a couple of months, or you could find all of the 2025 Pride messages here on our Suisun Pride 25 link. https://www.solanopride.org/suisun-pride-2025/.
The recording of Will’s fall of 2024 presentation on the “Weaponization of Christianity” against our community can be found here: https://youtu.be/pVImrR6eFIc?si=vvMb8hX1I-9cdYdq
His Pride sermon at Community Congregational Church of Benicia UCC on Sunday, June 29th entitled “Expecting Diversity” can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYuvuRyUvhM&t=2s
His Christmastide sermon at Community Congregational Church of Benicia UCC on Sunday, December 28th entitle “Who is Fleeing” where he discusses the plight of the Trans community and others can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XecIJ8tjIlo
If you missed this conversation on stories and understanding for Grandparents of Trans folx, here’s the recording with Janna Barkin, author of ‘He’s Always Been My Son’ and ‘A Grand Love: Stories for Grandparents of Transgender Grandchildren.’
We had a great conversation with our Trans Panel “Meet the Folx” at Community Congregational Church UCC in Benicia.
It was another time to be reminded how diverse the Trans – or any community – can be. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COmNVmm4sqA).
Attorney Laura Marquez-Garrett will be attending to answer questions and speak with people. Laura is an LGBT community member who wrote the LGBT platform of the Kids Online Safety Act which passed the Senate and failed the House due to ACLU and their big tech money claiming it would hurt Queer kids. She can address those concerns and any others. For more info on the act, visit: https://www.losangelesblade.com/2023/09/05/the-revised-kids-online-safety-act-protects-lgbtq-youth/
Need to contact one of our staff? Would you like to drop by to check out a book from our Queer Library? Contact us this way.
If you find yourself in crisis during this time, please call the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or our partners at these crisis numbers!
• Trevor Project Crisis Line: 1-866-488-7386
• Trans Lifeline Crisis Number: 1-877-565-8860
• Solano County Mobile Crisis Number: 707-806-0866
• Solano County Crisis Stabilization Service Number: 707-428-1131
Weekly Eblasts – Links below:
Do you get our weekly eBlasts on Wednesday afternoons? If not, or if you need to update your email, follow this link to register for our weekly eBlasts.
Food resources and other helps:
If you are hungry, please drop by our lobby and take what you need.
Or, if you have something to donate, you can drop by bags of unperishable food for others. You can also bring something for the Interfaith corner of the lobby, leaving a decoration on the tree, or a Chanukkah decoration or gift for those in need. If you need more resources, please look below on this homepage for where you can get food or help.
To see more, visit our new Food Resources page here: https://www.solanopride.org/food-resources/
Dear friends,
It’s been an honor and my absolute pleasure to serve the Solano County LGBTQIA+ community through the Solano Pride Center! I’ve been fortunate to have been able to work with an amazing team of individuals who care and give their time and expertise willingly, and a dedicated staff that does deep healing work in the community through the grants, contracts, and donations that the center receives. I’m very proud of the collective impact we’ve been able to make through the many events that the pride center facilitates weekly, especially our annual pride festival, that was the biggest ever held in this county! I am grateful for all the support of those individuals and organizations. My heart is full of love and gratitude for my time with this community! I look forward to seeing much growth and being together for it!
I’d like to say a heartfelt thank you to Donna Harris our longtime secretary whose wife Sandy Stelter was our longtime treasurer, who basically built this organization from the ground up those two together were the backbone. They used to have garage sales just to be able to keep the lights on. We’ve had many volunteers over the years for whom without we would never have been able to do the things that the pride center is now able to do every day. Thank you all! I’d like to say goodbye to Donna as she retires off the board and celebrate her many years of service at one of the upcoming SPC gatherings.
Lovingly, Brigid
Solano Pride Center
The Board of the Solano Pride Center shares our sadness that the Mayor of the City of Vacaville continues to use his position to give cover for the discrimination many in our community experience there. Like we did for every city, our Executive Director sent proposed language to use in a proclamation that actually gives an account of our history of discrimination and need for civil rights protections from our elected leaders.
This year we sent the request early, and attempted to hear back when the proclamation would be shared, and have not had that time confirmed. In preparing the so-called “Proclamation,” the Mayor’s office produced a document to be signed by the Vice Mayor that was similar to those of previous years, but with no proclamation that June 2024 would be Pride Month in the City of Vacaville. We also noticed a change to the text, including the deletion of the phrase “celebrate and build”, which was changed to “while building,” without an actual declaration of Pride Month. The language is so vague that it could apply to any other community, without addressing the violence members of our community experiences every day. Every other city we have received Proclamations from have adapted the language we have offered, but has still included the historical portions because that was the point. The language the Mayor used further white washes the history of America as if our country wasn’t created with the legality of slave states and the second class citizenship of women.
Furthermore, our biggest frustrations have centered around the lack of notification of when the flag was to be raised, as we experienced in almost every other city of the county today. Because we were not notified of the time of the flag raising, our community was denied the opportunity to be in attendance and participate to mark the moment. We understand that the Pride Flag has been raised on the School Street site, and will remain except for a day to honor the Army on June 14th (veterans comprise a significant portion of our community). Though we sent our request to the whole City Council on April 17th, we have had to ask for responses rather than a friendly sharing of events. The lack of communication feels intentional.
The erasure of our community happens on a daily basis, and the policies coming out of the Mayor’s office continues to discriminate against our civil rights and treats us like second class citizens. We call upon the good people of Vacaville to remind their Mayor that his oath of office is to serve all of the city, and not just those of his particular religious tradition. Leading Vacaville together means including your LGBTQ+ family and protecting their civil rights.
Will McGarvey
Executive Director
On behalf of the Solano Pride Center’s Board of Directors, June 2024