Two SLO County supervisors just marginalized the LGBTQ+ community | Opinion

Supervisors Debbie Arnold and John Peschong have weaponized what used to be a dependably feel-good tradition at board meetings: the presentation of resolutions, usually in honor of an event, an organization or an individual.

Two weeks ago, they voted against an anti-hate resolution condemning “racism, bigotry, bias and hate speech.”

At the same meeting, they voted no on a resolution recognizing Gun Violence Awareness Day.

This week, they doubled down by callously and rudely refusing to support a resolution acknowledging Pride Month.

They may not have meant it as a snub to the local LGBTQ+ community, but it looked that way.

Ironically, Arnold said both the Pride Day and anti-hate resolutions “tend to have a divisive feeling to me.”

But what can be more divisive than voting 3-2 on resolutions that call for dignity, respect and equal treatment for all?

Not only that, in a display of childish pettiness, the two board members then refused to participate in the traditional group photo taken on the dais, which usually includes all five supervisors and the smiling recipients of the resolution.

Pride Month resolution a first for SLO County

Though Arnold and Peschong voted no on the anti-hate resolution, drafted in response to disturbing white supremacist displays in Templeton, they had been willing to support a water-downed version of that resolution, an edit that ultimately failed.

This time, there was no talk of a compromise. It was two “no’s” straight out of the gate.

Mind you, this was no radical manifesto; it was succinct and diplomatically worded.

For instance, it acknowledges “profiling and violence” against the LGBTQ+ community, without going into specifics, and states that “recognition from one’s government is crucial for feeling safe in one’s community.”

It also speaks of “working toward a better, more inclusive, equitable future.”

It is significant that, for the first time ever, the board passed a resolution declaring June to be Pride Month — something that probably would not have happened if the conservative majority were still in power.

But anything less than a unanimous vote shows how far we have to go to show that San Luis Obispo County is a safe haven for all.

This is not about “wokeness.”

This is about human decency, which is so important at this time when the LGBTQ+ community is under assault.

Over the past several months, there’s been a backlash against drag shows, pride flags, medical care for transgender youths, LGBTQ+ books in schools, which have all been targeted by conservative lawmakers.

‘I’m regularly stalked and harassed’

Individuals have been subjected to hateful rhetoric, bullying and worse — including here in San Luis Obispo County.

“I’m regularly stalked and harassed for being queer on a number of occasions,” said Lola White-Sanborn, one of two representatives from the Gala Pride and Diversity Center who accepted the resolution on Tuesday. “As nearby as Santa Rosa Street and Marsh Street, right behind us, trucks have tried to run me over. It is therefore difficult for me to believe that anyone who would seek to oppose such a proclamation has any goal other than exclusion.”

Arnold insisted that was not her intent.

“The direction I think this board needs to go (is) that we’re all Americans and we stand under the American flag as Americans,” she said.

And, she took issue with references to the “harms” the LGBTQ+ community endures.

“I’m going to say just about every group has the same claims,” she said. “You know, if they have particular problems, let’s work on the problems. Instead, we’re calling it out. I feel like this identity politics in itself can be kind of racist and biased.”

Calling it out is the first and most basic step to start working on the problems facing LGBTQ+ people, who are navigating more hostility these days, not less.

On the bright side, Arnold’s days on the board are numbered, as she is not running for re-election in 2024. She very likely will be replaced by either the mayor or mayor pro tem of Atascadero, who supported a similar Pride Month declaration supporting the LGBTQ+ community in their city.

It’s not so difficult, but at least Arnold tried to explain herself.

Peschong did not even attempt to defend his right-wing pandering, though he later told Tribune reporter Stephanie Zappelli that, like Arnold, he supports a more inclusive statement, rather than a targeted statement of support for the LGBTQ+ community.

That’s another way of saying that all lives matter — ignoring the fact that certain groups, including the LGBTQ+ community, have been ridiculed, discriminated against, mistreated and even killed.

Failing to acknowledge that gives cover to groups like the neo-Nazis who displayed their white pride banner on the Templeton overpass and who very likely were behind a similar show on Los Osos Valley Road overpass in San Luis Obispo, where two turned up on June 10 with a new stenciled sheet that read “Pedophiles not welcome,” with “pedophiles” not coincidentally painted in rainbow colors.

SLO resident Kara Woodruff, who posted a video on Facebook, challenged the men to show their faces until they finally skulked off the overpass.

If only Arnold and Peschong had such spirit and conviction, instead of finding ways not to get on the right side of a very simple issue.

We don’t mean to diminish the importance of getting a resolution on the books, but what does it say about our county if the Board of Supervisors can’t speak with one voice in support of the LGBTQ+ community?

For as much as Arnold and Peschong say — or don’t say — about their decision, it’s the final vote that gets the attention.

At the end of the day, this turned out to be a goodwill gesture by three members of the board — and an ill-will gesture by the other two.