For those who feel they don’t have a welcoming family home, the Sacramento LGBT Community Center’s annual Thanksgiving dinner has served as a haven for a warm meal since 2015. The event also changed its name this year to the Chosen Family Feast. The reason?Koby Rodrígiez, chief program officer at the Sacramento LGBT Center, explains.”We really wanted to honor our native and indigenous communities and really exist in solidarity with them as well. These two days – today and tomorrow – are often days of mourning for the community and so for us, it was an intentional act to not honor the holiday, but to still bring people together with their chosen families,” Rodrígiez said. Dozens lined up to get a warm and tasty meal, and some even took their own goods to share with others. This is the first dinner since 2020. Franchesca Dixon has been attending the event for a few years, saying that those working at the center saved her life. But as she shared a meal with dozens, the shooting at a Colorado club came to mind.”I have a lot of friends that are terrified of going to events like this. Or to nightclubs or to transient of remembrance. They specifically didn’t go because they didn’t want to come under a hail of bullets and that’s a horrible way to live,” Dixon said. Aside from the hundreds of people expected to join the Thanksgiving lunch, five seats were reserved at one table indoors with the photos and names of the five victims who were killed at the Club Q shooting over the weekend.Every young person ages 12 to 24 who showed up to this feast also received two free movie tickets.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
For those who feel they don’t have a welcoming family home, the Sacramento LGBT Community Center’s annual Thanksgiving dinner has served as a haven for a warm meal since 2015.
The event also changed its name this year to the Chosen Family Feast. The reason?
Koby Rodrígiez, chief program officer at the Sacramento LGBT Center, explains.
“We really wanted to honor our native and indigenous communities and really exist in solidarity with them as well. These two days – today and tomorrow – are often days of mourning for the community and so for us, it was an intentional act to not honor the holiday, but to still bring people together with their chosen families,” Rodrígiez said.
Dozens lined up to get a warm and tasty meal, and some even took their own goods to share with others. This is the first dinner since 2020.
Franchesca Dixon has been attending the event for a few years, saying that those working at the center saved her life. But as she shared a meal with dozens, the shooting at a Colorado club came to mind.
“I have a lot of friends that are terrified of going to events like this. Or to nightclubs or to transient of remembrance. They specifically didn’t go because they didn’t want to come under a hail of bullets and that’s a horrible way to live,” Dixon said.
Aside from the hundreds of people expected to join the Thanksgiving lunch, five seats were reserved at one table indoors with the photos and names of the five victims who were killed at the Club Q shooting over the weekend.
Every young person ages 12 to 24 who showed up to this feast also received two free movie tickets.
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