San Francisco Pride
Encyclopedia
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."
, from Beale Street to 8th Street. 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.
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
.
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
.
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:
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.
Note: Several facts in this section are taken from KQED’s LGBT timeline. Logos of the various festivals may be seen at SF Pride’s website.
Parade
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some kind...
and festival
Festival
A festival or gala is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on and celebrates some unique aspect of that community and the Festival....
held in June each year in San Francisco to celebrate the lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, bisexual, and transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
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."
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 StreetMarket Street (San Francisco)
Market Street is an important thoroughfare in San Francisco, California. It begins at The Embarcadero in front of the Ferry Building at the northeastern edge of the city and runs southwest through downtown, passing the Civic Center and the Castro District, to the intersection with Corbett Avenue in...
, from Beale Street to 8th Street. 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:- Dykes on BikesDykes on BikesDykes on Bikes is a loosely affiliated international network of mostly lesbian and dyke motorcycle clubs, Dykes on Bikes in Portland, and the Women’s Motorcycle Contingent in San Francisco...
formerly known as Women's Motorcycle Contingent (WMC) for legal purposes has several hundred motorcycle riders, almost all women-identified although they welcome all gender-variant people. Some of the women are topless, some wear leather or fanciful costumes. The sound of hundreds of motorcycle engines gives this contingent a big impact. They are traditionally the first contingent in the parade; one reason for this is that it's difficult for motorcycles to run reliably at the walking pace of the rest of the parade, so as the first contingent they can move at an easier pace. On November 13, 2006, they won a battle to trademark the name "Dykes on Bikes", having struggled since 2003 to persuade the United States Patent and Trademark OfficeUnited States Patent and Trademark OfficeThe United States Patent and Trademark Office is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification.The USPTO is based in Alexandria, Virginia,...
that "dyke" was not an offensive word.
- PFLAG, or Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. Usually one of the largest contingents, featuring several hundred people. These are typically the (straight) parents or family members of LGBT people, sometimes marching together with their LGBT relatives. Many carry signs indicating where their PFLAG chapter comes from. It's common to see signs from all over Northern California. This contingent is notable for the swell in cheers (and some tears) that follow it along the route.
- Politicians frequently participate in the parade, as a way of making themselves visible to LGBT prospective voters.
- Churches of many denominations, or religious-oriented LGBT groups, contribute several dozen contingents.
- Nonprofit community groups and LGBT-oriented local businesses contribute more than half of the contingents. It's common for them to decorate a flatbed truckFlatbed truckA flatbed truck is a type of truck which can be either articulated or rigid. As the name suggests, it has an entirely flat, level 'bed' body with no sides or roof...
or floatFloat (parade)A float is a decorated platform, either built on a vehicle or towed behind one, which is a component of many festive parades, such as those of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the Carnival of Viareggio, the Maltese Carnival, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Key West Fantasy Fest parade, the...
, along with loud dance music, or create a colorful contingent that carries a visual message out to the bystanders.
- The Leather Contingent consists of lesbian, gay and pansexual leatherLeather subcultureThe leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around sexual activities. Wearing leather garments is one way that participants in this culture self-consciously distinguish themselves from mainstream sexual cultures...
and BDSMBDSMBDSM is an erotic preference and a form of sexual expression involving the consensual use of restraint, intense sensory stimulation, and fantasy power role-play. The compound acronym BDSM is derived from the terms bondage and discipline , dominance and submission , and sadism and masochism...
groups.
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
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
passages. In the 2000s such protestors have become less common.
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
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
Civic Center, San Francisco, California
The Civic Center in San Francisco, California, is an area of a few blocks north of the intersection of Market Street and Van Ness Avenue that contains many of the city's largest government and cultural institutions. It has two large plazas and a number of buildings in classical architectural style...
.
Festival
Civic Center, San Francisco, California
The Civic Center in San Francisco, California, is an area of a few blocks north of the intersection of Market Street and Van Ness Avenue that contains many of the city's largest government and cultural institutions. It has two large plazas and a number of buildings in classical architectural style...
area near San Francisco City Hall
San Francisco City Hall
San Francisco City Hall, re-opened in 1915, in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epitomized the high-minded American Renaissance of the 1880s to 1917. The structure's dome is the fifth largest in the world...
. 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
Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City...
. There have been proposals to move it to different dates, for instance to July 4 in 2004.
The independently organized Trans March
Trans March
Trans March is an annual gathering and protest march in San Francisco, California that takes place on the Friday night of Pride weekend, the last weekend of June. It is a mostly transgender/transsexual/intersex-led and inclusive event in the same spirit of the original gay pride parades and dyke...
is held on the Friday before the parade while the Dyke March
Dyke March
Dyke March is a mostly lesbian-led and inclusive gathering and protest march much like the original gay pride parades and marches. They usually occur the Friday or Saturday before LGBT pride parades and larger metropolitan areas have related events both before and after the event to further...
and Pink Saturday
Pink Saturday
Pink Saturday is a street party held the Saturday night before San Francisco Pride in San Francisco's Castro district. It coincides with the annual Dyke March.Attendees are asked to donate money at the gate...
events are held the Saturday night of the festival in The Castro
The Castro, San Francisco, California
The Castro District, commonly referenced as The Castro, is a neighborhood in Eureka Valley in San Francisco, California. The Castro is one of America's first and best-known gay neighborhoods, and it is currently its largest...
.
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."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:
- Safety monitors, crews of volunteers who help maintain order on the parade route and in the festival, particularly with respect to crowd control, and participant actions that might be harmful to themselves or others. Created in 1982, the Safety Committee philosophy and training has served as the model for many other LGBT events both local and international, and possibly the Black Rock Rangers of Burning ManBurning ManBurning Man is a week-long annual event held in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, in the United States. The event starts on the Monday before the American Labor Day holiday, and ends on the holiday itself. It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening...
. - HospitalityHospitalityHospitality is the relationship between guest and host, or the act or practice of being hospitable. Specifically, this includes the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers, resorts, membership clubs, conventions, attractions, special events, and other services for travelers...
, a team of volunteers led annually by Davace Chin and Michael Fullam and charged with feeding the other volunteers, keeps hundreds coming back year after year. - Medical volunteers, who provide first aidFirst aidFirst aid is the provision of initial care for an illness or injury. It is usually performed by non-expert, but trained personnel to a sick or injured person until definitive medical treatment can be accessed. Certain self-limiting illnesses or minor injuries may not require further medical care...
and medical assistance to participants. These volunteers are typically doctors, nurses, or other trained emergency response staff. - Contingent monitors, members of the various contingents who maintain cohesion and safety in a their contingent. They are recruited and trained by the Safety Committee.
History
Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...
. 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
Gilbert Baker (artist)
Gilbert Baker is an artist and civil rights activist who in 1978 designed the Rainbow Flag, sometimes called the Pride Flag, Gay Pride Flag, or, since the early 1990s, Queer Flag, that is often used as a symbol of gay pride in LGBT rights marches.-Biography:Baker served in the U.S. Army from 1970...
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
Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
in the Castro, arguably the best known gay village
Gay village
A gay village is an urban geographic location with generally recognized boundaries where a large number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people live or frequent...
in the world.
| 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 Polk Street Polk Street is a street in San Francisco, California, that travels northward from Market Street to Beach Street and is one of the main thoroughfares of the Polk Gulch neighborhood traversing through the Tenderloin, Nob Hill, and Russian Hill neighborhoods. The street takes its name from former U.S.... , 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 | |||
| 1972 | June 25 | Christopher Street West | 54,000 | |
| 1973 | June 24 | Gay Freedom Day | A Celebration of the Gay Experience | 42,000 |
| 1974 | June 30 | Gay Freedom Day | Gay Freedom by ’76 | 60,000 |
| 1975 | June 29 | Gay Freedom Day | Join Us, The More Visible We Are, The Stronger We Become | 82,000 |
| 1976 | June 27 | Gay Freedom Day | United for Freedom, Diversity is our Strength | 120,000 |
| 1977 | June 26 | Gay Freedom Day | 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 |
| 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" |
| 2007 | June 23-24 | San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration | Pride Not Prejudice | |
| 2008 | June 28-29 | San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration | United by Pride, Bound for Equality | 1.2 million |
| 2009 | June 27-28 | San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration | In Order to Form a More Perfect Union... | 1.2 million |
| 2010 | June 26-27 | San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration | Forty and Fabulous | 1.2 million |
| 2011 | June 25-26 | San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration | In Pride We Trust |
Note: Several facts in this section are taken from KQED’s LGBT timeline. Logos of the various festivals may be seen at SF Pride’s website.
See also
- Dyke MarchDyke MarchDyke March is a mostly lesbian-led and inclusive gathering and protest march much like the original gay pride parades and marches. They usually occur the Friday or Saturday before LGBT pride parades and larger metropolitan areas have related events both before and after the event to further...
- Pink SaturdayPink SaturdayPink Saturday is a street party held the Saturday night before San Francisco Pride in San Francisco's Castro district. It coincides with the annual Dyke March.Attendees are asked to donate money at the gate...
, a separate celebration held in the Castro on Saturday night of SF Pride.
External links
- San Francisco GLBT Neighborhood Guide, Gay & Lesbian News, MyCastro.com
- sfpride.org, website of the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Committee
- kqed.org's LGBT timeline, list of events in the LGBTLGBTLGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
history of San Francisco, as assembled by KQED-FMKQED-FMKQED-FM is an NPR-member radio station owned by Northern California Public Broadcasting in San Francisco, California.KQED-FM was founded by James Day in 1969 as the radio arm of KQED Television. The founding manager was Bernard Mayes who later went on to be Executive Vice-President of KQED TV and...
public radio and KQED public TV. - 2011 S.F. Pride photo gallery
- 2010 S.F. Pride photo gallery
- 2010 S.F. Pride music video (Champagne Mouth)
- 2008 S.F. Pride photo gallery
- 2007 S.F. Pride photo gallery
- 2008 Pride parade photo gallery
- 2007 parade photo gallery
- 2006 parade photo gallery
- 2005 parade photo gallery
- 2004 parade photo gallery
- 2003 parade photo gallery
- Shooter.net -- Photos of 2007 San Francisco Parade
- Shooter.net -- Photos of 2005 San Francisco Parade
- 2005 Pride parade photo gallery
- 2004 Pride parade photo gallery
- 2003 Pride parade photo gallery