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Resident urges Cathedral City council to act after months of anti-LGBTQ harassment
Summary
A Cathedral City resident, Alan Carvallo, told the council he and others have endured months of harassment and urged the council to be more active in addressing public safety and hate incidents against the LGBTQ community.
Alan Carvallo of Cathedral City told the City Council at a Feb. 12 study session that community safety concerns tied to repeated public harassment of LGBTQ people have persisted for months and deserve a stronger city response.
Carvallo, who identified himself as "Alan Carvallo, Cathedral City," thanked police and staff for a recent event and said press attention had helped address an incident he called the "bullhorn bully." He urged council members to be more visible and active, saying, "We need you to be more…present. We're being confronted as the LGBTQ community."
Carvallo said a person with a bullhorn had been shouting profanities and that the behavior continued for months until it drew media attention. "We finally called the press. That's how it got handled," he said. He criticized the council for not attending a public rally at City Hall and asked council members not to rely on spouses to represent them at community events.
Carvallo repeatedly warned the council that he expects the situation to worsen and said he feared for community safety: "This is going to get worse. There are gonna be deaths." He also said there had already been "a couple of deaths in Cathedral City" affecting gay men.
The mayor acknowledged Carvallo’s comments during the public comment period. The remarks were part of the public comment section of the Feb. 12 study session and did not prompt immediate council action during that meeting.
