Solvang’s Queer Community In California’s “Danish Capital” Finds An Ally Half a World Away

What a difference a year makes. Solvang is the self-styled “Danish Capital” of America, a rural tourist town of 6,000 complete with windmills and European style architecture. It sits nestled in the Santa Ynez Valley in Southern California’s wine country, has already elected it’s first gay mayor, and last year the city council voted unanimously to declare June Pride Month. The town even hosted its first pride parade last year with rainbow colored floats rolling down the city’s Copenhagen Drive.

So when husbands and fathers of four Kiel and Matthew Cavalli went to the Solvang City Council this past February with a proposal to add rainbow banners to street lamps and rainbow painted cross walks you would think there would be little fanfare or controversy surrounding the proposal. However after years of advancements for the queer community there has been a recent pushback across the country as right wing culture wars are heating up and liberal California is not immune to the problem. In Solvang that means the local City Council rejected the Cavalli’s proposal by a vote of 3-2.

Among the no votes was Robert Clarke, who describes himself as a “redneck Republican”, and while voting no on the proposal he proclaimed, “I’m going to get called a bigot tomorrow. I’ve been called a bigot before. I don’t care.” In an email to The Los Angeles Times, Clarke explained that a whole month of banners and painted crosswalks went too far adding “It is not Solvang’s brand… I would not want MAGA or NRA banners in Solvang either.” In text messages made available by a public records request it was also revealed that Clarke called his critics “Chardonnay Antifa” and pledged that “for every butt hurt person” who spoke out at the City Council meeting he would donate $10 to Gays Against Groomers, a far-right group that protests drag queen story events. Clarke is just a symptom of the backlash against the rural queer community that is seeking to be recognized in the small town.

At the February vote, Kiel Cavalli explained the importance of pride and it’s visibility to the City Council saying that growing up gay in Solvang he never saw “anything the resembles who I am” and that it “leaves a pretty sad void in one’s heart.” As a result of the February vote, members of Santa Ynez Valley Pride found allies half a world away with the organizers for Copenhagen Pride who asked the Mayor of Copenhagen to take a stand for the community. In an open letter to Solvang’s Mayor Mark Infanti, Lord Mayor Sophie Hæstorp Andersen of Copenhagen wrote that Denmark is “one of the most progressive countries in the world,” and that Solvang’s “opposition to Pride does not reflect the genuine warmth and acceptance of Pride that can be seen across Denmark and especially in Copenhagen,” Andersen added in a statement to The Los Angeles Times, “I was informed that the local opposition to put up Pride flags around town was justified with regard to Danish values and traditions. That’s why I think it was incredibly important to kindly make aware that these are not values we can answer for in Copenhagen.”

The open letter seemed to have the desired effect. The issue of pride banners and rainbow crosswalks was back before the City Council in April with a revised proposal. Putting it more on brand with the Danish themed town the banners would say “Solvang Pride/All Welcome” with a rainbow windmill that would hang for two weeks as opposed to a month and plans for rainbow crosswalks were removed. Mayor Infanti, who voted no in February, flipped his vote. The banners proposal passed, 3-2 to the delight of the overflow crowd who had shown up in support of the event. 

There were no updates on the number of speakers who showed up to support the banners or if Clarke actually did make a donation to the anti-LGBTQ charity of his choice as he had claimed he would in the public text messages. Infanti claimed his excuse for voting no the first time the issue came before the City Council was because local equestrians told him the rainbow-colored crosswalks could spook horses pulling carriages in town because they do not see colors like humans do.  Q