Abstract

The history of the LGBTQ+ community in Fresno has long been underrepresented in academic historical study. We have found that even before Fresno's first gay pride parade in 1991, flourishing communities have long existed. College clubs like GLSA (Fresno State Gay and Lesbian Student Alliance) and many gay bars played fundamental roles in these communities as places of socialization and visibility. By utilizing a collection of primary/secondary sources and interviews from members of the community that lived through this change, we hope to capture the Tower Districts' evolution into what is today. In this podcast, we discuss the bar scene, pre-parade community groups like the GLSA, the first parade, and events following the parade and the changes it brought.