Fresno County Board of Supervisors votes to declare June as Traditional Nuclear Family Month

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Fresno County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution to declare the month of June as Traditional Nuclear Family Month on Tuesday.

It passed in a 3-2 vote after a tense, hour-long discussion involving both community and board members.

Supervisors Brian Pacheco and Luis Chavez were the two dissenting votes.

It comes over a week after Chairman Gary Bredefeld announced he would be sponsoring the resolution.

Since then, he said he received a death threat over it.

Critics say the language excludes LGBTQ+ families.

Bredefeld says it doesn't prevent anyone from celebrating Pride Month during June.

During public comment, 12 people spoke in favor of the resolution and 15 spoke against it.

"There is no need for a traditional family month, because every month belongs to traditional nuclear families," said Joleen Siebert, one of the resolution's critics.

"I wanted to point out a little hypocrisy here. There are over three months and 28 days where we're supposed to be celebrating what someone's sexual preference is," said a man in support of the resolution, who did not give his name.

In part of the resolution, it says "the traditional nuclear family, consisting of one husband, one wife, and any biological, adopted, or fostered children... is under attack."

Before voting in favor of the resolution, Supervisor Buddy Mendes pointed out its language excluded other types of families not discussed by critics.

"There are single moms and single dads doing the best they can," said Mendes. "Situations where the mom and dad don't live together anymore, but they have full-time custody, and the kids are going back and forth."

Supervisor Nathan Magsig also raised concerns, asking to remove a paragraph that claimed children are being indoctrinated into the LGBTQ+ lifestyle.

"If this is a traditional family resolution, I think the resolution is cleaner specifically talking about moms and dads - the benefits of being raised in a traditional family environment," said Magsig.

Bredefeld agreed to remove one paragraph, and add another to recognize single parents, grandparents, foster parents and parents with joint custody.

He told Action News in an exclusive interview, the whole point of sponsoring this resolution was to focus on supporting children.

"We wanted to recognize traditional values, people who are working hard to raise their children in healthy environments," said Bredefeld.

Still, LGBTQ+ supporters unhappy with the resolution's passing.

"I was pleased that they took out some of the language. I don't think it went far enough," said Kaylia Metcalfe, who opposes the resolution. "You don't have to be straight to love the children. I think that that is an easy way to score political points."

Bredefeld says going forward, Traditional Nuclear Family Month will be recognized each June.

It's part of a broader movement by state and local governments nationwide.