Folsom’s first Family Pride marks LGBTQ+ celebration on National Coming Out Day
Amalia Slovak learned the power of acceptance after coming out as transgender while living in Folsom.
“I found it very difficult,” she said. “There wasn’t much support that I could find that was very visible ... Ultimately, what I learned during that time of transition was how valuable it is to be able to create safe community, and a space, and be visible and get away from our (phone) screens and be able to see each other face to face, and build community.”
Building community was the theme of Folsom Family Pride, an inaugural celebration of the LGBTQ+ community held Saturday at Folsom City Lions Park. Slovak, who has three children attending school in Folsom, works as the event’s treasurer.
The event brought with some three dozen vendors along with community groups and activists, and featured live music and food. Organizers scheduled the event for Oct. 11, which is National Coming Out Day, and hope it becomes a yearly tradition. The event was planned to hold roughly 400 people at a time while organizers expected roughly 1,000 people to attend throughout the day.
Folsom Family Pride organizer Sarah Perrin said she began brainstorming the idea of a pride event by reaching out to friendly businesses and organizations through social media. It led to having monthly planning meetings just over a year ago, culminating in Saturday’s event.
Progressive politicians Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. held a rally at Folsom Lake Community College in April that drew roughly 30,000 people while a small plane circled overhead carrying a banner that said “Folsom is Trump Country!” A look at the election data, though, shows citizens of Folsom have voted blue in higher numbers in every presidential election dating back to 2004.
Perrin said event organizers were catalyzed by the Trump administration working to roll back protections of LGBTQ+ rights, executive orders against discrimination and health-related policies.
“I think it’s especially important now given the attacks on queer and trans people,” Perrin said. “I am a former government employee and I saw it first hand, how people were discriminated against inside the government. For me, just building this community, starting locally ... and trying to connect people together in the queer community is really important. And a lot of people that joined the (organizing) committee were looking for some kind of a supportive space.”
There has also been an influx of former Bay Area residents moving to Folsom, which organizers say has led to the area becoming more accepting of the LGBTQ+ community.
“I feel like it’s been changing a lot,” Perrin said. “There is definitely a red side of town. But I feel like it’s getting more diverse through the different political sides and different identities in the community.
“I wasn’t sure if there would be a ton of support for the event, but we just kind of put it out there. Fortunately, there were a lot of people that wanted to help out. So I definitely think there’s a space for it here.”
Organizers are planning to hold the event annually and encourage anyone interested to follow Folsom Family Pride on Instagram.
This story was originally published October 11, 2025 at 2:48 PM.
