Upcoming Events:

Next Group will be Wednesday, October 23rd from 7-8:30 pm. Please bring a drum and something from your Altar for the group time.

Support Groups that will start meeting this fall in our Conference Room!

Gender Expansive Circle (1st & 3rd Fridays from 5:30 to 7:00 pm). See below for more info.

Pan-Pagan/Magickal Support Group (4th Wednesdays from 6-7:30 pm beginning Sept 25th). For those with any form of neo-pagan practice, to explore the intersections of queerness and pagan spirituality. Led by members of SPC Staff. Bring something from your altar to share about, and a drum or percussion rattle if you have one (extras will be available).

Military/Veterans LGBTQ+ Support Group (2nd Thursdays beginning October 10th from 7:00 to 8:30 pm). For active duty military or retired veterans in the queer community. Led by Will McGarvey, Jim Dailey & Ray McIntosh.

LGBTQ+ Men’s Support Group (3rd Wednesdays beginning October 16th from 7:00 to 8:30 pm). This group is for all those who identify as male/masc, and is trans inclusive, led by Will McGarvey & Milton Heath Solórzano.

Chronic Illness and Chronic Pain Support Group (Updated times on the new flyer above). Ray McIntosh and others from the staff will be leading an in-person, and zoom support group. Contact Ray for more info, and know that you are not alone. Ray can be contacted at ray@solanopride.org or by phone or text at 707.408.2458.

Grief Support Group will start with an in-person gathering on Friday, October 25th from 10-11:30 am in the conference room at the Center’s building. Rachel Wilson and Timothy Meyer will be the facilitators for the group that will meet in person on the 2nd and 4th Fridays, and will find another time in the early evening on another day of the week for zoom meetings. Rachel can be contacted at rachel@solanopride.org or by phone or text at 707.681.1887.

Other groups are being prepared, including: Women’s, HIV Positive, and a Bi/Pan/Omni support group. Contact will@solanopride.org if you are interested in helping facilitate any of these groups.

HIV Prevention Awareness

As we expand our HIV Prevention Awareness we are calling on Volunteers to help spread
the word at local venues in the evening, By tabling at these venues we can reach more people to “Get Tested.“ This is our goal!

We offer FREE HIV TESTING. with qualified testers from the Solano County Department of Public Health. FREE TESTING is offered every 1st Tuesday of the Month at the Solano Pride Center. The next Testing Tuesday, is October 2st from 4-6 pm at 1234 Empire St in Fairfield
This FREE HIV TESTING is now being offered at local venues in the evening.
As a volunteer, you are in charge of the testing booth and registering folks that would like to get tested. You will not do any testing. We are asking for 4 hours of your time.
Thank you. Cristina Zaldana

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 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 information.

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 14^th (veterans comprise a significant portion of our community). Though we sent our request to the whole City Council on April 17^th, 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