Fresno City Councilmember Annalisa Perea has walked holding hands with her partner in the Tower District and gotten vulgar remarks.

“Luckily, that’s the extent to which I’ve received hate,” said Perea, the first openly LGBTQ+ member on the seven-member council.

Her response to such remarks is to simply recall the lines from poet Andrea Gibson, a strong advocate of the LGBTQ community: “Fear is only a verb if you let it be. Don’t you dare let go of my hand.”

Perea recited those lines by memory during an half-hour interview last month.

“Whether I’m holding my partner’s hand in the Tower District or in north Fresno, I cannot let fear of the what ifs when it comes to bigotry in this community,” said Perea, 36. “I cannot let the fear stop me from showing my partner love. I never will.”

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Unfortunately, the LGBTQ+ community hasn’t been immune from attacks that go beyond hate speech. The 2022 hate crime report, released in June by the state Department of Justice, shows an increase in incidents against LGBTQ+ members, and local law enforcement have backed the data.

Perea sees opportunities to get the LGBTQ+ community to be more proactive in fighting hate crime, hate speech and discrimination that erase fear of reporting such incidents. Those who track hate crimes acknowledge many go unreported for various reasons, from distrust of police to self-isolation.

“I want every person from the LGBTQ community to feel they shouldn’t have to fear when it comes to holding their partner’s hand or showing any level of affection,” said Perea.

Fresno is no home for hate crime

It doesn’t take local incidents like the vandalizing of LGBTQ+-friendly Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church in central Fresno, or an assault two years ago of two men who were walking on Olive Avenue in the Tower District to realize hate crimes are real, said Perea.

“There is a zero tolerance in our city when it comes to any level of hate crime, whether it’s LGBTQ related, whether it’s our Sikh community being targeted or the (Asian American and Pacific Islander) community being targeted,” said Perea, who lauds the efforts of Mayor Jerry Dyer and Police Chief Paco Balderrama in tackling hate crimes.

Dyer – a former police chief and officer – and Balderrama have put a priority on hate crime.

The local LGBTQ+ community, said Perea, is aware of a rash of more than 500 pieces of legislation throughout the country that targets them. Even though California has been free of such bills, the mounting anti-gay rhetoric and shootings at LGBTQ+ nightclubs still stir fears locally, she said.

“It’s really sad to see that we are regressive as a nation when it comes to equality,” said Perea.

“Important for me to use my voice”

Perea, who has followed in the footsteps of her father and brother into the council, represents District 1. The area includes the Tower District, host to the annual Rainbow Pride Parade and home to numerous businesses that cater to the LGBTQ+ community.

She was 20 when she came out, and encountered immediate support from family. Not everyone is so lucky, said Perea.

“A lot of our younger individuals who come out are rejected by their family and they become homeless,” said Perea. “That’s why we talk a lot about homelessness within the LGBTQ community.”

Perea sees her position on the council as an opportunity to help others. She is among 165 Latinos elected to local, state and federal levels who identify as LGBTQ+. Axios reports that is more than triple the 2017 figures.

“I did not have a lot of people I could look up to when I came out in my early 20s,” she said. “That’s what makes it important for me to use my voice because I want to be a resource for someone who is having a hard time coming out or looking for resources.”

That need is out there, said Perea. Suicide rates within the LGBTQ+ community are higher.

“That’s because an (LGBTQ+) individual is led to believe that they are less than or that there is nowhere for them to go for assistance or resources,” said Perea.

This is part of a series on Stop The Hate, a project funded by the California State Library.