As thousands of people gathered at Fresno's City Hall last month for the Meet in the Middle 4 Equality rally, which drew national attention to same-sex marriage and other gay rights issues, Vicky and Gary Harris were sitting down to a chili dog lunch at the Original Coney Island diner nearby.
The Harrises, who have been married for 33 years and are both 53, seem to represent many other people in the area, where they've always lived. Vicky Harris voted yes on Prop 8, helping to ban same-sex marriage in California, because she said she wants her children to be married to someone of the opposite sex.
Harris has a cousin who's been with his partner for 30 years �" "that's their lifestyle, that's fine," she said �" and had a gay cousin who died from AIDS, but if a ballot measure to allow same-sex marriage comes up, both Harrises said they would vote against it.
"Maybe it's the way I was raised," said Vicky Harris, offering the best explanation she can think of for her view.
In Fresno County, 69 percent of voters supported Prop 8 in November, amending the state's constitution and eliminating the right of same-sex couples to wed.
Fresno, one of the largest cities in the Central Valley, is seen as a crucial site for outreach if marriage equality is to be won. A ballot measure to repeal Prop 8 could come as soon as 2010. The city, which is about three hours southeast of San Francisco and has a population of approximately 470,000 people, is mostly known for agriculture.
Prop 8's passage has drawn attention to the region that was severely lacking from the No on 8 campaign, which virtually ignored the Central Valley.
LGBTs who live in Fresno say there's plenty of work to do in the region. People might come out of the closet long enough to go to the bars, but many are not out to their families. Several straight people in the city said they have gay and lesbian friends, but they still don't support same-sex marriage, and they say none of the LGBTs they know talk to them about it.
A few hours after the Meet in the Middle rally, at Fresno's tiny gay bar Express, Jaymi Morgan, 25, is standing at a folding table preparing military dog tags and gay-themed books and videos for a raffle. The plain room, with industrial carpet and a small electric fan, could just as easily belong to a church meeting hall as one of Fresno's handful of gay bars.
Asked about what the community's like in the area, Morgan said, "Ohhhh, the community ...," apparently trying to think of a way to summarize things. "We live in the Bible belt of California."
Morgan, a straight ally, said that people in the area are "very religious."
"You can't convince them of anything," she said.
Morgan said, "My gay friends don't come out. They avoid me like the plague. I don't know why. Half of the boys at the Red Lantern [another Fresno gay bar], they go home and their families don't know." She said of one friend that when their parents are home, the friend will tell others "not to come to the door."
'A silent supporter'
Beyond the room where Morgan's working, there's a large brick fireplace, brick walls, and two pool tables. Green, white, and black balloons adorn the walls.
It's still early, so the bar is almost completely empty and lights flash on an empty dance floor.
As music videos play on the big screen TV on the wall behind him, Noe Bañuelos, 23, pours drinks for the few customers there. Bañuelos, who's gay, said he's not out to his family.
"They're old-fashioned, and really traditional," he said, explaining that his parents are originally from Mexico. They know that he works at a gay bar, but they don't talk about it, he said.
Fresno is "a little close-minded," said Bañuelos, but "I think the gay community is really strong here. We look out for each other."
He's not involved in the marriage equality movement, though. Because of his family, "I'm more of a silent supporter," said Bañuelos.
On the back patio, Jose De Loza, 35, who's having drinks with a couple of friends, said he feels "repressed" in Fresno and he doesn't want to walk around at night with an "openly gay look, because it's not safe."
De Loza, who's lived in Fresno for 17 years, said there've been a few incidents in the past year "but it hasn't happened lately." He said a gay man was bludgeoned with a pipe, and another man was beat up leaving a bar last year. "When we go to that bar, everybody runs in, and then," when it's time to go, "they run out," said De Loza.
"Today was the first day I felt safe ... there were so many of us everywhere," he said, referring to the crowds drawn to Fresno for the rally.
Outside the bar, though, there are still people who don't think De Loza should be allowed to marry.
Fresno resident Peter Mora, 26, was eating a corncob next to the fruit stand he runs at Fulton Mall, a long pedestrian plaza lined by stores and restaurants.
Mora voted for Prop 8. "I don't think it's right, to be honest with you" he said of same-sex marriage. He said it hadn't been allowed for 2,000 years, and "I don't want my kids to be learning that."
He said he "wouldn't think" he'd change his mind on same-sex marriage.
"I believe in the Bible. I'm stuck to it," said Mora, who said he has gay and lesbian friends, but they don't talk about marriage.
After the rally
A week after the Meet in the Middle rally, Fresno held its 19th annual LGBT Pride celebration. Jeffrey Robinson, of Fresno Pride, said the event seemed to have "rejuvenated" people and that Pride was "packed."
"It was almost like trying to get through a gay bar on a good Friday or Saturday night," said Robinson, who also credited Fresno's climate for being milder than usual that day.
"The weather was 80 degrees as opposed to 110 degrees," he said.
Robinson estimated that this year's crowd was up 500 people to as many as 4,000.
The budget for this year's Pride also grew to over $25,000. Robinson said one reason was that "at the 11th hour, quite a few individuals within the community flooded us with money."
Both Equality California, whose executive director, Geoff Kors, was on the No on 8 executive committee, and the statewide Courage Campaign are canvassing in the area.
Morgan, the straight ally, was recently named a co-chapter leader for Marriage Equality USA, which has been working in the region since long before Prop 8.
People in the area "are taking a short break" after working on Meet in the Middle, she said in a phone interview last week, but "I continue to see new faces in the community," and more people are coming out.
"I've had a lot of new volunteers," said Morgan.
But De Loza, who blogs for www.queerfresno.com, said in a phone interview last week, "We haven't had much of a response" since Meet in the Middle. "The challenge we're having now is getting people motivated again," he said.
De Loza said Pride went "really well" but the Queer Fresno Web site "hasn't been getting that many hits."
However, he said, Meet in the Middle "had an effect not on the gay community as much as it did on the straight community."
"I think it was important for us to get together and show everybody we're here in the valley," said De Loza. "I think it was a little creak in the door. Now we have the ability to reach out to straight people ... and show them we are more than just drag queens on parade."
Amy Mello, EQCA's field director, said there are two field organizers based in Fresno. Neighborhoods that will be approached for canvassing will include places where support for Prop 8 was up to 60 percent, said Mello.
Fresno appears to mirror other cities in the Central Valley.
Stockton City Councilwoman Susan Talamantes Eggman, who won her seat after running as an out lesbian, said, "As far as marriage equality, it is still a rough road."
"I don't know that it will ever win here by a majority, but I do believe we can reduce the gap between acceptance and non-acceptance," said Talamantes Eggman.
MEUSA and other groups expect to bring the Get Engaged Tour to Stockton in July to gather people's input for how to proceed on repealing Prop 8.
Pamela Brown, MEUSA's national policy director, said the Central Valley is home to about one out of every five of the state's voters.
"We think the Central Valley is a key component to winning a future ballot initiative. We thought it was important in the No on 8 campaign, and it's even more important today," said Brown.