Placer County has no physical LGBTQ center. ‘It’s not safe’ without one, advocates say

More than five decades of LGBTQ advocacy in California’s capital region has given George Raya the experience — and audience — he needs to help a much younger effort, an organization in Placer County that only just gained momentum in the past couple of years.

Raya hosted a fundraiser last Sunday at Faces Nightclub for his 75th birthday to contribute to the Placer LGBTQ+ Center’s goal of raising $75,000 to be able to have a physical space — a need in Placer that the center has long hoped to fill.

“You would not believe you’re in the state of California if you just knew what’s happening around you there in Placer County,” Raya said.

Looking forward to Raya’s birthday fundraiser, Placer LGBTQ+ Center Board President and CEO Daniella Zimmerman was unsure if people would be aware of just how different Placer’s needs and resources are from Sacramento’s LGBTQ community.

Two locations of the Sacramento LGBT Community Center, the Lavender Heights location in midtown and the Marsha P. Johnson Center in south Sacramento, serve the LGBTQ community in the greater Sacramento area, including Placer County.

This doesn’t lessen the need for a center in Placer, Zimmerman said.

Local advocates, such as Kai, a young adult LGBTQ advocate from Placer County, said that this doesn’t lessen the need for a center in Placer.

“Our closest resources, big resources and center, would be in Sacramento,” said Kai, who requested their last name not be used out of concern for their safety and to discuss sensitive topics.

“That’s not too terribly far away but a lot of the kids that need support don’t have licenses yet and can’t get down to Sacramento, or they can’t come out to their families and have their families take them.”

Having a location that’s within walking distance from local high schools, near Sierra College and more accessible to the Placer community is crucial to the Placer LGBTQ+ Center’s mission.

In numbers alone, the Placer LGBTQ+ Center is much smaller, with no staff and only five board members, compared to the Sacramento LGBT Center’s two locations, staff of 32 and 10 board members.

Placer’s history with LGBTQ support

In recent years, Placer LGBTQ advocates have faced an increase in opposing forces.

In 2023, the Landing Spot, a student support group run by Pastor Casey Tinnin from Basin Congregational United Church of Christ in Loomis, faced backlash surrounding a drag show fundraiser they planned to host at Roseville High School.

After Roseville Joint Union High School District officials reported receiving over 2,000 emails of expressed concerns, they canceled the drag show.

Roseville Joint Union cut ties with Tinnin after a video went viral showing him speaking about LGBTQ support groups . The video was recorded secretly by conservative group Project Veritas; Tinnin says his words were taken out of context, and that the video led to him receiving death threats.

The Landing Spot has been a support group for LGBTQ youth since 2016, when Tinnin said he recognized a lack of resources and knowledge within Placer County’s Christian community. Their annual drag show raises money for Camp Fruit Loop, a camp for LGBTQ youth.

When Pastor Tinnin and the church received threats, Kai said many were upset and scared — to the point that they left the church or stopped sending their children to group meetings.

“They weren’t sure, if they send their kids there, if their kid is going to come back unharmed,” Kai said. “Not because of the people who run the Landing Spot but because of the threats that we were getting.”

Zimmerman said since then, she has noticed it is more difficult to get resources to students and cultivate safe spaces on campuses.

“You can feel that everyone has been a little more timid and nervous about it all,” Zimmerman said. “Going to GSA (gay–straight alliance) meetings, talking about them, even getting into schools to go meet with students and tell them about resources.”

This past school year, Rocklin Unified School District implemented a controversial parental notification policy that requires all school staff and teachers to tell parents if their child had requested to use a different name, pronouns or restroom than they had previously.

Roseville Joint Union passed a similar policy .

On Monday, the California Public Employment Relations Board ruled that the Rocklin policy constitutes unfair labor practices . Earlier this year, it was found to have violated the state education code by the California Department of Education, but county and federal judges around the state have sided with the so-called “parents’ rights” movement.

In Auburn earlier this month, a school board trustee admonished the board for recognizing Pride month.

“The need for extra support has become much more than what they can currently provide,” Kai said. “(Students) need that kind of support that the Placer LGBTQ+ Center would love to give to them.”

Kai added that things have felt more urgent in Placer lately, especially for more vulnerable members of the community, people of color and youth.

In working with peers and youth, Kai said they have all come to the conclusion that “it’s not safe.”

Students can go to counselors with some concerns, Zimmerman said, (though part of the Roseville Joint Union policy included notifying when students go to wellness centers) but sometimes they just need someone who can relate or give advice, something not all counselors can provide.

With the resources of the Sacramento LGBT Center, where Raya served on the board for six years, he saw new opportunities arise for the local LGBTQ community.

“I’ve seen what a big center can do,” Raya said.

What’s next for LGBTQ center?

When the Placer LGBTQ+ Center’s board was first established in 2014, they set out to build a physical center that would serve both youth and adults.

While the center has held up its commitment to being a resource and visible part of the community, through Placer Pride and events like walking in the Roseville Fourth of July parade every year, they have seen setbacks in establishing a physical space, including administrative hurdles and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, Zimmerman says, the center is “leveling up.”

Attendance at this year’s Placer Pride in May, the event’s third iteration, is a reflection of this. Officials estimated that over 2,000 were in attendance as compared to 1,000 and 500 attendees last year and the year before that, respectively.

“It was just really nice. I felt like there was hope for Placer County there,” Kai said.

Placer Pride also featured performances by the Gay Men’s choir and local drag artists and was able to host 80 booths this year, up from last year’s 45 booths, with vendors, resources, networking opportunities and crafts and games for kids.

The board of directors for the center hopes to diversify and expand this year, Zimmerman said. The organization gained its 501c(3) status in 2014, under the name PRISM-Q LGBT & Allies Resource Center, but does business as the Placer LGBTQ+ Center, and hopes to change its official nonprofit name later this year.

“Longterm, we want to get to a point where we don’t have to spend all of our time fundraising,” Zimmerman said. “It doesn’t make sense to open a center if then we’re going to have to spend all our time raising money to keep the center open. Really it’s providing the resources and support.”

People who set up monthly donations, Zimmerman said, also help provide security that the center will have funding in the future.

While they haven’t totaled earnings from Raya’s fundraiser party yet, the center was recently awarded a $10,000 capacity building grant from the Placer Community Foundation and had success with its Big Day of Giving, during which Placer LGBTQ+ Center raised $9,260 , up from $5,348 in 2023 .

At Placer Pride in May, the Gay Men’s choir also made a $1,000 donation to the center.

When the center adds these new funds to their total, Zimmerman said, they will reach nearly 40% of their goal of $75,000.

Though high temperatures had Raya worried that fewer people would attend his birthday fundraiser for the Placer County center last weekend, he considered the event a success: those who made it to the event heard about the work that the center does, and Raya said many who could not make it reached out to ask about where they could find more information.

At the fundraiser, State Sen. Angelique Ashby presented Raya with a resolution honoring the advocacy work he has done since he was a student at Sacramento State. That advocacy work includes lobbying and representing the West Coast at the first National Gay Task Force in 1977, the resolution said.

Raya says he is on a mission to help provide consistent community resources.

“They need a place, a safe space,” Raya said. “There’s none.”