Gay Pride March Permit Threatened by Fresno Police

Gay Pride March Permit Threatened by Fresno Police
By Mike Rhodes
June 2, 2004

Event organizers for the 14th Annual Fresno Lesbian and Gay Pride Parade and Festival in Fresno’s Tower District had their permit withdrawn last week by the Fresno Police Department. Jeff Robinson, Community Link CEO and an organizer for the event, said that the City of Fresno's Business License division had issued a permit last Friday, but a police representative called him later saying that the permit should not have been issued, and in fact - the permit that was issued was no longer valid. FPD lieutenant Dave Belluomini then demanded a meeting with Robinson to discuss "new changes" to the permit that were going to be required.

That meeting took place today at a FPD substation in central Fresno. The media and community supporters came to attend what they thought would be an open meeting. Instead, the police allowed only Robinson and Dan Waterhouse of the event organizing committee into the building. Locked outside were representatives from the Human Relations Commission, an aide for City Council member Cynthia Sterling, dozens of supporters and just about all of the media in Fresno.

After the crowd had waited about an hour, Jeff Robinson emerged to tell the waiting crowd that the police had agreed to re-issue the permit and that everything was OK. The Pride! The Parade! The Party! would go on as planned.

Some supporters in the crowd thought it was interesting that lieutenant Belluomini is married to City Council member Jerry Duncan’s assistant. Council member Duncan has been an outspoken opponent of city involvement with events in the Lesbian/Gay community. He has complained loudly in public that the Human Relations Commission has given funding to the Reel Pride film festival.

Fresno's Gay Pride Parade will be held in the Tower District Saturday, June 5 starting at 9:30 AM. The parade will begin at Palm and Olive, and go straight down Olive Avenue past the Tower Theatre to the festival site on Fulton just south of Olive Avenue. For more information, contact Community Link at 559/486-3464 or at ClinkInc@aol.com