“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”

A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens

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What a difference a day makes!  On Monday, June 3, 2013, the City of Visalia‘s City Council issued it’s second LGBT Pride Month Proclamation.  On Tuesday, June 4th, the City of Porterville issued it’s first.  The two events could not have been more different.

Both cities provide online applications for proclamations, with instructions on how to turn them into the city.  Such requests are routinely handled by cities across the country, and are ways for cities to recognize citizens and groups.  Here’s Porterville’s “Request a Proclamation” page.

Visalia’s proclamation resulted in applause and friendly chatter in a standing room only crowd that overflowed into the hallway.  This year’s proclamation went mostly unnoticed by the greater community in Visalia.  Last year it provoked some media coverage and talk-radio interviews with the Mayor of Visalia, Amy Shuklian.  Porterville’s proclamation, in a meeting room at least twice the size of Visalia’s, also with standing room only and overflow into the hall, resulted in boos, catcalls, the arrest of a anti-gay protestor, and at least two calls for the death penalty for homosexuals.

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