Pride 2012 Takes International Theme for Two-Day Event

Epic party aims to shed light on struggles of the LGBT community abroad

By Sasha Lekach

June has arrived and with it the annual Pride celebrations starting on June 22 and continuing through June 24, which spotlight the lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual communities of San Francisco. In its 42nd year San Francisco Pride is a two-day event with a party and parade centered in the downtown and Civic Center areas. Bringing with it a festive vibe, Pride weekend has come to include a new set of traditions honoring subsets of the LGBT community.

Pride 2012 includes a Saturday and Sunday festival and the massive parade that heads down Market Street late Sunday morning. This year’s theme of “Global Equality” is fitting for the internationally known event, which draws an estimated 1 million visitors throughout the weekend, many from outside the Bay Area, state and even nation, according to Pride Executive Director Brendan Behan.

The theme was proposed by Bishop Christopher Senyonjo of Uganda and Rev. Canon Albert Ogle of San Diego, with SF Pride approving it last September. Senyonjo has witnessed deadly resistance and hate in his home country has partnered with Ogle through his church to provide a voice for LGBT activism throughout the world. Together they are speaking out against countries that criminalize LGBT choices and the subsequent neglect to provide proper HIV care and other support.

Pride organizers will highlight community members and celebrities at the parade and this year a unique “global grand marshal” post was created to honor Senyonjo, who will be part of the parade. This year former Mayor Willie Brown and various community members including Rebecca Prozan from the district attorney’s office will receive top Pride honors. Comedienne Sarah Silverman will be the celebrity grand marshal in the parade as will Carmen Carrera from RuPaul’s Drag Race who has recently self-identified as a transgender female. Dot Jones who plays Coach Beiste on Fox’s TV show “Glee” will also be honored throughout the weekend and parade.

Part of the pride excitement is the performers that entertain throughout the festival at 20 of the stages sprinkled throughout the five-by-five block area near City Hall. The headliner at the main stage will be Karmin, the duo who rose to fame through their Youtube pop covers. Other performers to catch throughout the weekend include scenes from Broadway’s American Idiot The Musical, and stages hosting “Glee” cast member JC Jones and singer/dancer Jessica Sutta from the now-defunct pop girl band the Pussycat Dolls.

“It really helps bring attention to the pride movement,” Behan said about the celebrities and performers at the festival and parade. “Having their support provides a way to start unique conversations.” Past hit performers include the hit boy band Backstreet Boys and pop sensation Lady Gaga. “As the years go by it’s really clear that people want to be associated with Pride,” Behan said.

The parade on Sunday is the pinnacle event of the weekend with nearly 200 groups, elected officials such as Mayor Ed Lee, local supervisors, congress people, organizations, companies, sponsors and others meandering through the city streets in colorful floats, costumes, trucks, cars and sporting banners, signs, beads and festive attire. The parade runs from 10:30 a.m. through 2:30 p.m. with the route starting in the Financial District and ending at the festival gates near City Hall. Interested parade contingents can apply to be part of the festivities until the week of the event by registering online at http://www.sfpride.org/parade/application.

Behan, who transitioned from interim executive director to the permanent head of directors at the start of this year, said this year festival-goers will notice a few changes starting at the festival gates where there is more of a push for $5 entry donations. Those who donate at the gates receive a $1 discount at the beverage booths and proceeds go toward Pride’s nonprofit community partners.

Volunteers are a major component of the weekend with at least 1,000 volunteers manning the gates, beverage booths, medical stations and as safety monitors throughout the grounds.

Although much of the Pride fete will be similar to years past, yet again there will be no JumboTron, which was cut from the planning budget in 2011 when the board was “trying to be cost conscientious,” according to Behan. However, future Pride celebrations should see the return of the big screen.

Pride’s finances were in trouble after a $450,000 deficit after the 2010 event. Behan has been working to slowly pay back that debt and claims fiscal discipline paid off in 2011 when community members rallied around pride and it was a successful donation year. They have been able to edge their way out of 70 percent of the debt but remain cautious with spending.

Safety is another major concern each year, as Behan stressed. Pride works closely with the San Francisco Police Department and closely monitors beverages and chooses to not include a beer garden, often seen at other City street fairs. This year the price of water is being lowered in an effort to keep people hydrated as an additional safety measure.

After a series of hate crimes toward the homosexual community in San Francisco throughout the past year – not associated with Pride – Pride organizers, the City and police are emphasizing caution and recommend participants stay aware, report suspicious activity and even use a buddy system to deter unwanted danger.

“San Francisco is a welcoming and diverse community, yet we still face challenges,” Behan contended.

Before the festival and parade, the weekend kicks off early with the hillside tradition of constructing the pink triangle on Twin Peaks. Patrick Carney, the founder of the larger-than-life memorial, has been organizing the construction of the isosceles figure for 17 years. The triangle represents the violence directed at homosexuals during the Holocaust and all other victims of hate crimes across the globe because of their sexuality.

Each year more than 120 volunteers install and disassemble the hillside installation, which is comprised of 175 bright pink tarps and 4,000 steel stakes to keep it in place throughout the weekend. The sides of the triangle measure 200 feet each, covering an acre of the eastern slope.

Volunteers arrive at 7:30 a.m. Saturday and work until 10 a.m. when a commemoration ceremony takes place with local dignitaries and Pride organizers and guests. Last year guests included Mayor Ed Lee, Sen. Mark Leno, Assemblyman Tom Amminano, Board of Supervisors President David Chiu and other local elected officials and Pride honorees.

“We are trying to educate people,” Carney said about the display, which he spends months prepping for. He originally founded the project with his sister and partner. As an architect he volunteers his time for the project, coordinating the ceremony and construction efforts.

The takedown is just as important late Sunday afternoon between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Volunteers are always needed -- just come prepared to get a bit dirty and bring a hammer, according to Carney. The group always leaves the hill cleaner than when the triangle arrived, Carney says, picking up stray needles, plastic bags and other trash that litters the peak.

The massive triangle can be viewed from 20 miles away and purposely is located at a spot visible from the parade down Market Street. Carney said nearly 20 years ago he decided he wanted to add some color to Pride weekend and saw the Twin Peaks slope as the perfect canvas. Carney notes the sad irony that the tarps were burned two years ago in a hate crime incident that demanded the organizers purchase new materials and repaint new tarps, which are still in use today.

To get more information to help with the construction or take-down visit http://www.thepinktriangle.com.

A nine-year tradition that starts the busy Pride weekend on Friday is the Trans March to celebrate, honor and include the transgender community as part of the Pride festivities. On June 22 the Trans March will rally the community from Dolores Park to UN Plaza, where speakers and an open mic will give a voice to this subset of the gay community.

March organizer Danielle Castro, who volunteers her time as do other march coordinators, said this year’s theme is “Trans Generations: Define Your Moment.” As part of the theme there will be a first ever youth-and-elder brunch from 2 to 4 p.m. at Dolores Park to bring together the different generations. “There’s lots of inspiration to go around,” Castro said.

This year’s march will emphasize creating a safe sober event that families can be part of and will include many youth organizations. Also new for this year’s march is a group of trans people on motorcycles and mopeds, and a trolley to include members who may be unable to walk from the park to the plaza in the Mid-Market neighborhood. “The people who are marching understand how diverse we are,” Castro stated.

Like Pride organizers, Trans March committee members are mindful of many hate crimes that have happened around the world that target the transgender community. Castro highlighted the recent killing of Brandy Martell, who identified as transgender, in downtown Oakland in April. Castro said the group plans to memorialize those affected or killed by hate crimes and to celebrate the trans community with a stage at the start of the march that will host performers, speakers, and live music.

The march that has included hundreds of participants in past years starts at 6:30 p.m. and ends at the plaza around 8 p.m. where an open mic session will end the celebration, before an after party at the El Rio bar on Mission at Cesar Chavez streets.

Keeping with the global theme, Castro said there’s always international participation with people coming from near and far to experience a mass public coming together of transpeople. For more information about the march visit http://www.transmarch.org.

Saturday will be jam-packed with crowds in the Mission Dolores and Castro areas for the Dyke March, which feeds into the Pink Saturday evening street fest in the Castro District, which is organized by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

This year’s Dyke March is commemorating 20 years with the theme “The Dyke-Space Continuum.” “We wanted to make the march even better,” organizer Claire Henry said for the big 2-0, which is looking at where the movement has been and where it is going. Some changes have been made to honor two decades of lesbian activism including more of a focus on the march and less on the stage and party scene at Dolores Park preceding it. This year a performance stage will not be set up that Saturday afternoon, however DJs will start revving up the crowd which traditionally includes a Dykes on Bikes contingent that rides with the march toward the Castro area.

“We want to focus on harm reduction,” Henry said, explaining an effort to keep drinking down and community fun up. “We wanted to put the focus back on the Dyke March.” A new start time at 6 p.m. and music slowing by 5 p.m. is expected to refocus the event to its roots as an activist event. “We are trying to increase lesbian visibility,” Henry said. “Our issues are relevant and there’s a lot of things to overcome.”

The day also aims to be more “green” with more trash, recycling and composting receptacles around Dolores Park. As many as 200 volunteers are needed to host the day at the park and ensure the march runs smoothly. To help at the Dyke March email info@thedykemarch.org.

“A lot has changed in the community in the past 20 years,” Henry said about the march, which welcomes all types of queer women. As many as 20,000 people are expected at the park throughout the day and the evening march to the Castro where the street party Pink Saturday takes place every year.

This year’s Pink Saturday is toning down the party scene along Castro Street between Market and 17th street after previous years turned violent. Food trucks, fewer stages and more access to water and controlled entryways prohibiting alcohol are all expected at this year’s Castro street soiree, which brings crowds rearing to celebrate once the sun goes down on Pride weekend.

Copyright 2012 Castro Courier