The City of Brawley refused to recognize Pride month. Calexico's attempt was interrupted

This year, LGBTQ Pride month celebrations across the country continued in spite of the record number of anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in state legislatures.

The two different schools of thought surrounding these laws was on full display just a couple hours south of famously LGBTQ-friendly Palm Springs recently, as two Imperial Valley cities made notable decisions affecting the LGBTQ community.

A historic election garners mixed reactions

In March, Calexico mayor Raúl Ureña, 25, became not only the youngest mayor in the Imperial Valley city's history, but also the first openly transgender mayor of a California border city. The council approved his appointment 4-1, two years after he was elected to the city council.

His appointment was celebrated by some, and publicly condemned by others.

During a June 15 Pride flag-raising ceremony at Calexico City Hall, a woman yelling obscenities approached Ureña and lunged towards him. A video of the incident shows police officers stepping in, pulling the woman away and handcuffing her while she resists arrest. Calexico Police Sergeant Sean Acuña told the Calexico Chronicle the woman kicked Ureña's father and knocked his cell phone out of his hands while being taken into custody.

During a recent interview, Ureña said the Imperial Valley LGBT Center has celebrated Pride month in previous years without disturbances or protests, and that he was sent to the Pride parade in Mexicali, Mexico last year to represent Calexico.

"The local LGBT Pride parade is almost like a carnival. There's no one that's going to come and protest a good time, people selling fried snacks or anything like that. But a Pride flag raising at city hall and that level of official inclusion, that seems to trigger a lot of people on the other side," Ureña said.

Looking back on the incident, Ureña said "this isn't anything new in my political career."

Since Ureña became mayor, many residents have posted comments on social media criticizing his appearance, sexuality and even posted photos of him in women's clothing. There's also an ongoing recall effort against him.

"At the end of the day, some people would rather talk about my gender," Ureña said. "I still feel like those hateful people, even if they become vocal sometimes, they're still in the minority. There's people who are fragile if they would be confronted in person, and that's why they choose to do all those things as anonymously as possible because they're not focused on the issues or what matters to people."

When asked for his perspective of why the transgender community has become a polarizing political issue, Ureña cited the narratives of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Former President Donald Trump echoed by religious conservatives.

"We've already achieved equality and now everything here that has been done for LGBT is 'sexualization' and 'taking things too far,'" Ureña said. "They're putting this message out to people that LGBT people want to indoctrinate and sexualize their children in a way to where they feel like they almost have to fight against LGBT people in more physical and violent ways where they're defensive of their kids because of this rhetoric."

In 2020, the Human Rights Campaign reported 44 transgender or gender nonconforming people were fatally shot or killed by other violent means that year. One of the names on that list, Marilyn Cazares, was in Brawley, a city 20 miles to the north of Calexico. Cazares was found murdered on a couch in July that year in front of an abandoned building in the city.

Brawley City Council refuses to recognize Pride month

During a June 20 Brawley City Council meeting, councilmember Gil Rebollar proposed a motion to officially proclaim June as Pride month, which the city has never done before. The public comments included residents voicing religious opposition or concerns the proclamation would give preferential treatment to one group over others. Mayor George Nava also stated his dislike for controversial agenda items brought to the council that have potential to divide its members and the community, and urged the councilmembers to "stay in our lane."

The motion wasn't seconded and failed to make it to a vote.

According to Rebollar, the only purpose behind the proclamation was to acknowledge the LGBTQ community that calls Brawley home and he wasn't out to "check off a box for social justice or political points."

"My intention was to never divide nor bring controversy, but to simply acknowledge the LGBTQ community that has yet to be formally recognized by our city’s elected leaders. There is no denying the fact, nor any controversy, that members of the LGBTQ community have been born and raised in our city of Brawley," Rebollar told The Desert Sun.

But he did feel "a little bit intimidated" during the public discussion. Some of the opposing residents in the room were his neighbors and people he grew up with. He was also told after the meeting that he committed "political suicide" and there are rumors of a possible recall against him.

"I was publicly questioned on my sexual preferences, heard statements labeling the LGBTQ community as sexual deviants, comparisons between homosexuals and pedophiles, and other statements that further revealed the need for more education and awareness surrounding the topic. There were multiple moments throughout the meeting where I questioned whether I even wanted to move forward with a motion for approval, but there were two public comments that solidified my position and stance," Rebollar said.

One of those individuals told him: “You’re going to lose tonight, this resolution, but you’re going to win in raising awareness and consciousness that will take years.”

The other comment, which was in opposition, came from an individual who told him depending on how he voted, he would be "judged by God."

"It was in that moment that I knew my loving, forgiving and redeeming God would know the reasons why I put this forward and, when the time comes, will judge me accordingly. Also, as a recovering alcoholic, I’ve done far worse than a simple parliamentary vote," Rebollar said.

An uncertain future for Imperial Valley LGBTQ residents

The question of whether a Pride resolution could come up in a future Brawley City Council meeting is uncertain. At the conclusion of the June 20 meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Raul Castro asked the city attorney to set meeting agendas allowing the mayor to make final decisions on how they are created, which Rebollar described as "a preventative measure to keep topics such as the Pride resolution off the agenda in the future."

"As I was the sole proponent of this item and the council remaining the same until then, that question may be best answered by whomever is mayor next June," Rebollar said.

Twenty miles south, Ureña said the legacy left behind by the United Farm Workers movement and activist Cesar Chavez, who led Calexico farm workers in several demonstrations, helps foster a culture that's more open to change.

Even though Calexico's Pride flag-raising ceremony was interrupted, Ureña is confident in his city's future and not concerned about the recall effort against him.

"I feel the recall effort towards me will show its true colors and become more transphobic," Ureña said. "A lot of people see Imperial Valley as an older, Catholic, low-income supermajority community and it is, but a lot of these people are first and foremost Mexicans. As someone who represents them and what they've gone through as farm workers specifically, I'm so embraced by them. My agenda is not even a question in their minds. That's what I can say, at least for the City of Calexico."

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: 2 Imperial Valley cities saw pushback against Pride month celebrations