The mayor hoped to ride a wave of LGBTQ activism this past month that had splashed across the famously conservative Central Valley and sent its political class buzzing.įresno flew the pride flag for the first time, as did Delano and Selma. The previous week, he had proposed during a City Council meeting held over Zoom that the self-proclaimed Rose Capital of the World fly the pride flag at City Hall. But the bauble banner also represented a recent defeat Garcia doesn’t want to forget. June is Pride Month, of course, and Garcia is the first-ever openly LGBTQ elected official in the history of Kern County.
JAn earlier version of this article said Andres Chavez is 37.
