After years of organizing and advocacy by local volunteers, Gilroy will hold its first-ever Pride celebration on August 2, featuring folklorico, drag performances, and community resources — a milestone in the conservative South Bay town.

As Bay Area News Group reports, Gilroy’s inaugural Pride marks a historic moment for LGBTQ+ residents in South Santa Clara County who have long faced isolation, harassment, and a lack of visibility in the largely agricultural region. The event is the result of nearly two years of grassroots organizing by Pride Social South County, a small but determined collective that also led Morgan Hill’s first Pride in 2024.

One of the group’s co-founders, Terry Hernandez, grew up in Gilroy and remembers the risk involved in simply gathering. Their first meeting took place behind the now-defunct Chacho’s Mexican restaurant in Morgan Hill, where Hernandez marked the space with a Cinco de Mayo balloon. Some attendees feared the meetup might be a trap set by hate groups.

Bit by bit, the meetings grew, despite the risks. Attendees shared stories of being stalked, outed by teachers, or threatened with violence. One couple sought a restraining order after being confronted by a neighbor with a gun. Another local advocate, Carlos Pineda, recalled how Pride flags outside his workplace were repeatedly torn down and run over.

“This is not normal,” Hernandez told Bay Area News Group. “You should be able to live in your community freely and not have a restraining order against your neighbor or worry that you’re gonna go home and hide the flag.”

Over time, the group began hosting potlucks and dance nights, then took the big step of organizing public Pride events. Last year, they helped organize Morgan Hill's Pridefest, and this year Gilroy's. “Pride is a protest,” Hernandez said. “It’s about claiming our space.”

As reported by Gilroy Dispatch, the 2021 effort to fly the Pride flag at Gilroy City Hall stirred controversy. The council ultimately voted unanimously to allow the flag, but then-Mayor Marie Blankley opposed having the city participate in a ceremonial raising.

Former Councilmember Rebeca Armendariz helped lead the push and called it “a leap in the right direction, but a scary one for all of us.” The vote prompted the city to adopt a general flag policy requiring 150 voter signatures and council approval every other year. The flag has flown each June since, as reported by Gilroy Dispatch.

The event’s organizers aim to spotlight both queer identity and Gilroy’s Latino heritage. The celebration will feature a queer folklorico troupe, local musicians, food trucks, and booths offering mental health resources, HIV testing, and immigration legal aid. Hernandez emphasized the importance of the health services, citing a county report showing that Latino men have nearly double the rate of new HIV diagnoses, with Gilroy being the county’s most heavily Latino city.

“For us to have Pride in a conservative area where it’s never been done before... hopefully it will send a loud message to the queer community: ‘We’re here. We’re going to continue to be here. We’re going to continue to fight for you,’” said Augustine Alvarez, treasurer of Pride Social South County and a lead organizer of both Morgan Hill and Gilroy Pride.

Pineda, a local advocate who works with youth, said he grew up feeling like he had to leave Gilroy to understand his identity. “Growing up in a Hispanic household, it’s a lot of ‘we don’t talk about it,’” he said. “You’d have to go to San Francisco to have conversations about how to find yourself.”

“It’s amazing when everybody comes together,” said Hernandez. “At times, we don’t realize what we bring to the table. And Gilroy has pride, family, the love of community.”

Organizers praised support from Mayor Greg Bozzo and Councilmember Zach Hilton. “We went all around here and we got a lot of no’s,” Alvarez said. “But we’re very grateful for the people that said yes.”

Addendum: Rene Spring, a former councilmember of the nearby city of Morgan Hill — and South County's first openly gay councilmember, provided SFist with more background info on the history of Morgan Hill's Pride, which was embraced by city officials much earlier than Gilroy's Pride:

In Morgan Hill, we already celebrated the first Pride Flag Raising ceremony with a small Pridefest back in 2017 for the first time.

This was organized by the City of Morgan Hill per a decision by the Morgan Hill City Council earlier that year. South County Pride didn’t exist yet during those years.

I was the first openly gay elected Councilmember in Morgan Hill (and all of South County), and I introduced a resolution in early 2017, soon after my first election to the City Council of Morgan Hill.
At that time, all Morgan Hill City Councilmembers supported my resolution to have the Pride Flag flown at three different locations in Morgan Hill each month of June.

This has been done every year since then, with support from the City of Morgan Hill. What started as a small event has grown year by year.

It’s part of the LGBTQIA+ community’s history in South Santa Clara County.

Gilroy’s first Pride will take place Saturday, August 2, from Noon to 4 p.m. at Gilroy Civic Center, featuring family-friendly events. There will be an adults-only after-party and drag show later in the evening at Tempo Kitchen and Bar starting at 9 p.m.

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