Sonora City Council Debates Pride Month Proposal

Sonora, CA — The Sonora City Council spent a couple of hours Monday evening hearing from the public, and discussing whether to declare June as Pride Month.

The proposal was brought forward by Sonora City Councilman Andy Merrill. During the public comment period at the meeting, the council heard from members of the LGBTQ+ community about not feeling safe in Sonora and discrimination faced when trying to be their true selves. There were also a handful who spoke in opposition who felt the proposed proclamation was sowing division and an overreach of government.

Various other opinions were raised on both sides. In the end, councilmembers Merrill and Ann Segerstrom were in favor of doing a resolution and members Mark Plummer, Suzanne Cruz and Matt Hawkins were opposed.

Councilman Matt Hawkins stated that while he is against a Pride Month declaration, he feels the council could get behind some type of measure that specifically condemns violence, in an effort to reach a compromise.

The council was merely giving opinions at this week’s meeting, and no official vote was taken. The city attorney noted that Councilman Merrill could still bring forward a proposed resolution at a future meeting if he wants a formal vote.  Merrill indicated that he feels the community as a whole is in favor the measure, and stated that he may bring it back again at a future meeting.

In a letter sent to the council prior to the meeting, which was part of the public record and detailing his reasoning, Merrill twice mentioned District Three Tuolumne County Supervisor Anaiah Kirk’s opposition to a county-operated vaccine clinic that was connected to a Drag Show held on at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds. It was a topic that Supervisor Kirk and Supervisor Jaron Brandon debated at a past board meeting.

Merrill stated in the letter, “Recent regressive and constitutionally unsound legislation has been introduced in numerous states, effectively censoring the citizen’s right to freedom of expression and public gatherings. More locally, Supervisor Anaiah Kirk overstepped his authority as a Government Official and tyrannically requested peaceful, legal, and county-authorized events to be shut down due their associations with LGBTQ+ community members and organizations. He has cited his Christian religious beliefs as the reason behind his oppressive demeans, which by any reason is completely inappropriate behavior by a representative of the public.”

Merrill’s public letter can be found here.  

Reached for comment after the meeting, Kirk responded, “Andy’s memo which was targeted at me was built on less then truthful hearsay about my stance on the issue. Anyone who has watched what I said, knows his accusations are way off. No wonder why the city attorney appeared to not want anything to do with it. Instead of waging culture wars, Andy should be focused on City business, for example, he should be looking at putting a full-time school resource officer at Sonora High School. They just experienced two school lockdowns. I am sure the parents would appreciate it if he put some attention there.”

The public comment period at Monday’s meeting was mostly cordial, but council members Merrill and Suzanne Cruz got into heated debates at times about the issue when the council later went back and forth about the issue.