San Francisco Pride

The San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration, usually known as San Francisco Pride, is a parade and festival held in June each year in San Francisco to celebrate the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies. The 40th anniversary parade included over 200 parade contingents, and is described on the official website as "the largest gathering of LGBT people and allies in the nation."[1]

Contents

Parade

The San Francisco Pride parade is a world-renowned LGBT pride parade. It is held on Sunday morning of the Festival. The route is usually along San Francisco's Market Street, from Beale Street to 8th Street.[2] The parade starts at 10:30 am, although contigents begin to line up a couple of hours before all they get onto the parade route, and the last contingent doesn't turn off the parade route until almost 2:00 pm.

Contingents

The parade consists of hundreds of contingents from various groups and organizations. Some of the more well-known contingents are:



Groups which are anti-gay typically do not have contingents. During the 1990s it was common to see anti-gay protestors in the spectator area along the parade route, holding large signs condemning homosexuality, often with biblical passages. In the 2000s such protestors have become less common.

Hundreds of thousands of spectators, if not over a million, line the parade route along Market Street. Some arrive hours in advance to claim a prime spot on the curb with a clear view of the street. Others climb onto bus shelters, the walls of subway station stairs, or scaffolding on buildings to get a clear view. As the parade ends, the spectators are able to pass through the barriers and march down Market street behind the parade. The end of the parade route is near the Festival location at the Civic Center.

Festival

A two-day (Saturday and Sunday) festival has grown up around the Sunday morning parade. It is a collection of booths, dance stages, and vendors around the Civic Center area near San Francisco City Hall. On the Sunday of the parade, an area of the festival called Leather Alley features fetish and BDSM oriented booths and demonstrations.

The festival is traditionally held in the last full weekend in June. This commemorates the Stonewall riots. There have been proposals to move it to different dates, for instance to July 4 in 2004.

The independently organized Trans March is held on the Friday before the parade while the Dyke March and Pink Saturday events are held the Saturday night of the festival in The Castro.

Administration

The festival is run by a non-profit organization, the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Committee. According to their web site, their mission is "to educate the World, commemorate our heritage, celebrate our culture, and liberate our people."[6]

The event is funded by a combination of community fundraising, corporate sponsorships, San Francisco city grants, and donations collected from the participants at the festival.

Current staff is: Brendan Behan - Interim Executive Director, Imani Brown - Community Relations Manager, Lucky Gutierrez - Office/IT Manager, and Jeremy Koo - Clerical Assistant.

Several veteran contractors are employed to take on specific roles for the event.

Also involved in the running of the festival and parade are hundreds of volunteers. Of particular note are:

History

The first event resembling the modern San Francisco Pride celebration was held in 1970--a small "gay-in" in Golden Gate Park. Since 1972, the event has been held each year. The name of the festival has changed over the years. The event organizers each year select a theme for the event, which is reflected in the logo and the event’s publicity.

The Rainbow Flag identified with the Gay community was originally created by Gilbert Baker for the 1978 San Francisco Pride Parade. It originally had eight stripes, but was later simplified to the current six stripes. A six-stripe Rainbow Flag flies over Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro, arguably the best known gay village in the world.

San Francisco Pride History
Year Dates Festival name Theme Estimated attendance
1970 June 28 Christopher Street Liberation Day Gay-in at Speedway Meadows Golden Gate Park Freedom Day Revolution 30 hair fairies (what transsexuals were then called) marched down Polk Street, then San Francisco's primary gay neighborhood, in the morning; afterward, several hundred people attended the "Gay-in", which began at 1PM.
1971 No Pride festival[7]
1972 June 25 Christopher Street West [8] 54,000
1973 June 24 Gay Freedom Day [9] A Celebration of the Gay Experience 42,000
1974 June 30 Gay Freedom Day[10] Gay Freedom by ’76 60,000
1975 June 29 Gay Freedom Day[11] Join Us, The More Visible We Are, The Stronger We Become 82,000
1976 June 27 Gay Freedom Day [12] United for Freedom, Diversity is our Strength 120,000
1977 June 26 Gay Freedom Day[13] Gay Frontiers: Past Present, Future 250,000
1978 June 25 Gay Freedom Day Come Out with Joy, Speak out for Justice 240,000
1979 June 24 Gay Freedom Day Our Time has Come 200,000
1980 June 29 Gay Freedom Day Liberty and Justice for All 250,000
1981 June 28 International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade Front Line of Freedom 250,000
1982 June 27 International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade Out of Many...One 200,000
1983 June 26 International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade Strengthen the Ties, Break the Chains 200,000
1984 June 24 International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade Unity & More in ’84 300,000[14]
1985 June 15 International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade Honor our Past, Secure our Future 350,000
1986 June 29 International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade Forward Together, No Turning Back 100,000
1987 June 28 International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade Proud, Strong, United 275,000
1988 June 26 International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade Rightfully Proud
1989 June 25 International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade Stonewall 20: A Generation of Pride
1990 June 24 International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade The Future Is Ours
1991 June 30 International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade Hand In Hand Together
1992 June 28 International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade A Simple Matter of Justice
1993 June 27 International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade Year of the Queer 400,000 - 500,000
1994 June 19 International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade San Francisco to Stonewall: Pride & Protest
1995 June 18 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration A World Without Borders
1996 June 29-30 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Equality & Justice For All
1997 June 28-29 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration One Community Many Faces
1998 June 27-28 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Shakin’ It Up
1999 June 26-27 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Proud Heritage, Powerful Future 700,000
2000 June 24-25 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration It’s About Freedom 750,000
2001 June 23-24 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Queerific 1,000,000
2002 June 29-30 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Be Yourself, Change the World
2003 June 28-29 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration You’ve Gotta Give Them Hope
2004 June 26-27 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Out 4 Justice
2005 June 25-26 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Stand Up, Stand Out, Stand Proud
2006 June 24-25 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Commemorate, Educate, Liberate — Celebrate! "hundreds of thousands"[15]
2007 June 23-24 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Pride Not Prejudice[16]
2008 June 28-29 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration United by Pride, Bound for Equality[17] 1.2 million[17]
2009 June 27-28 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration In Order to Form a More Perfect Union...[18] 1.2 million[18]
2010 June 26-27 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Forty and Fabulous[19] 1.2 million[19]
2011 June 25-26 San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration In Pride We Trust[20]

Note: Several facts in this section are taken from KQED’s LGBT timeline.[21] Logos of the various festivals may be seen at SF Pride’s website.[22]

See also

References

  1. ^ sfpride.org/aboutus
  2. ^ "2005 parade route map". SF Pride Committee website. http://www.sfpride.org/. Retrieved 2006-01-13. 
  3. ^ "Dykes on Bikes". SF Women's Motorcycle Contingent website. http://www.sfwmc.org/. Retrieved 2006-01-13. 
  4. ^ Raab, Barbara (2006-04-20). "Dyke Drama: A not-so-excellent adventure through U.S. trademark law". American Sexuality magazine (National Sexuality Resource Center). http://nsrc.sfsu.edu/MagArticle.cfm?Article=601&PageID=0. Retrieved 2007-03-17. 
  5. ^ National Center for Lesbian Rights (2006). "What's in a Name?". NCLR Newsletter 2006 (Winter): 1. "'On November 13th, the Women's Motorcycle Contingent formally won the legal right to trademark "DYKES ON BIKES."" 
  6. ^ "About Us: Mission Statement". SFPride.org website. http://www.sfpride.org/. Retrieved 2006-01-13. 
  7. ^ Although there was no gay parade per se in 1971, there was a one time event called the Age of Aquarius Parade on a Sunday in August 1971 that marched down Folsom Street from the Embarcadero to 11th St. that functioned very much like a gay parade and was attended by many gay people and had some gay floats. There were mostly floats from spiritual groups and yoga groups. The parade had several thousand attendees.
  8. ^ The 1972 gay parade started from Montgomery and Pine down Montgomery to Post, then up Post to Polk Street. There was a celebration afterward at the Civic Center.
  9. ^ The 1973 gay parade started from Montgomery and Post, down Post to Larkin, up Larkin to Sacramento, and west on Sacramento to Lafayette Park, then a major cruising area, where Mr. Marcus, the first gay emperor of the Imperial Court, presided over a preliminary celebration prior to the main celebration afterward at Marx Meadow in Golden Gate Park.
  10. ^ The 1974 gay parade started from Grant and Bush, down Grant to O'Farrell, then down O'Farrell to Polk Street. There was a celebration afterward at the Civic Center.
  11. ^ The 1975 gay parade started at Pine and Montgomery, went down Montgomery to Post, then down Post to Polk Street. There was a celebration afterward at the Civic Center.
  12. ^ The 1976 gay parade started at Pine and Montgomery, down Montgomery to Market, then down Market to Noe, then up Noe to Duboce Park. There was a celebration afterward at Marx Meadows in Golden Gate Park--since the temperature was 94 F. that day, there was a lot of nudity at this celebration, which was filmed by agents of Anita Bryant to use in her anti-gay campaign.
  13. ^ In 1977 the gay parade for the first time adopted its present route from Spear Street near the Ferry Building down Market Street to City Hall, with a celebration afterward at the Civic Center.
  14. ^ "Gay Parade draws 300,000:1984" Johnny Miller, 21 June 2009, Sunday Datebook (San Francisco Chronicle).
  15. ^ Sebastian, Simone; Demian Bulwa (2006-06-26). "Huge Celebration of Pride: Hundreds of thousands fill Market Street with 'incredible' color". San Francisco Chronicle: p. A–1. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/26/MNGAVJKD7D1.DTL. Retrieved 2006-06-26. 
  16. ^ San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Committee (2007). "SF Pride 2007". SF Pride Committee website. http://www.sfpride.org/heritage/past/2007.html. Retrieved 2009-06-15. 
  17. ^ a b San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Committee (2008). "SF Pride 2008". SF Pride Committee website. http://www.sfpride.org/heritage/past/2008.html. Retrieved 2009-06-15. 
  18. ^ a b San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Committee (2009). "SF Pride 2009". SF Pride Committee website. http://www.sfpride.org/heritage/past/2009.html. Retrieved 2009-06-15. 
  19. ^ a b San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Committee (2010). "SF Pride 2010". SF Pride Committee website. http://www.sfpride.org/. Retrieved 2010-06-28. 
  20. ^ San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Committee (2011). "SF Pride 2011". SF Pride Committee website. http://www.sfpride.org/. Retrieved 2011-06-17. 
  21. ^ "LGBT Pride: SF Historical Timeline". KQED.org website. http://www.kqed.org/topics/history/heritage/lgbt/timeline.jsp. Retrieved 2006-01-13. 
  22. ^ "Our heritage". SF Pride Committee website. http://www.sfpride.org/heritage/index.html. Retrieved 2006-01-13. 

External links
  • Category:LGBT
  • LGBT portal