San Francisco LGBTQ Pride to host limited in-person events this year
The Pride will go on in San Francisco!
San Francisco LGBTQ Pride Celebration may not be doing a march this year, but the Committee has announced that the 51st celebration of Pride in the very dear and queer city will still be going on. San Francisco LGBTQ Pride is also planning some limited, in-person events to celebrate this Pride and Juneteenth this year, with the theme being “All in This Together.”
The San Francisco Pride Celebration Committee organization’s mission is to connect the LGBTQ+ communities of the San Francisco Bay Area. Speaking to the press, Fred Lopez, the Pride committee executive director said: “We’ve worked tirelessly with our partners at City Hall, the Department of Public Health, and elsewhere to ensure a number of incredible, safe experiences. SF Pride this year will be all about locals, from queer-owned small businesses to fellow nonprofits that have displayed true leadership over this past year. It’s truly a Pride for the people.”
“Pride is one of my favorite times of year, and I am so excited that we’ll have the opportunity to come together and safely celebrate our LGBTQ community this June,” said San Francisco Mayor London Breed.
“While this year’s celebrations won’t look the same as they have in the past, SF Pride has done a great job creating events that will enable us to share our pride in our great City and stand united with our LGBTQ+ community.”
Carolyn Wysinger, the president of the San Francisco Pride Board of Directors, said: “The struggles for racial justice and LGBTQ+ equality are one and the same. Last year, we brought Black Lives Matter back to the forefront of the Pride movement with a Marsha P. Johnson Rally. This year, we’re working to center Black LGBTQ voices and culture even more strongly. I know how badly our communities want to be together after more than a year apart.”
The Bay Area Reporter stated that the only three in-person events scheduled this year will demonstrate the local-focus of the Pride festivities. The first, which celebrates and uplifts Black LGBTQ+ people, is currently planned for Friday, June 18, the eve of Juneteenth. Juneteenth is the holiday celebrating the end of slavery in Texas (which was the last state to act on the federal declaration) at the African American Art & Culture Complex.
Twin sisters Melonie Green and Melorra Green, who are the co-executive directors of the African American Art & Culture Complex, stated in the press release: “We are proud to partner with San Francisco Pride, as we create space to celebrate and honor the collective freedom of our Black LGBTQIA sisters, brothers, and sibs. We are committed to activating and strengthening our relationship by being a safe space for our collective LGBTQ+ voices through visibility and community building. Last year in June, we proudly hosted the Marsha P. Johnson Black Trans Lives Matter Rally in our open-air gallery. It was a beautiful and much-needed beginning! It is our desire that our community embrace all our individual and collective displays of freedom!”
The second event will take place at Oracle Park, the home of the San Francisco Giants major league baseball team, and will feature screenings of Queer and LGBTQ film. In cooperation with Frameline, which produces San Francisco’s largest LGBTQ film festival, from June 11-12. The press release states that this socially distanced and ticketed event will be subject to state-mandated capacity limits.
James Woolley, the executive director of Frameline, stated that this would be “the largest film screenings in our 45-year history. We cannot wait to wow the audience by showing some great films on a jumbotron screen. Films are best enjoyed with an audience, and we are thrilled to be presenting a communal, but safe, event for the local community to enjoy.”
Billed as “a modified version of the annual celebration in Civic Center”, Pride Expo will be the third event. “Instead of featuring entertainment on community-programmed stages and venues, the expo will have the look and feel of a resource fair,”states the press release.
“Queer-run businesses and organizations have borne the brunt of the pandemic, and it is vital for an institution such as SF Pride to establish a safe forum for LGBTQ+ vendors, merchants, and nonprofits to reconnect with the community.”
Additional details are to be released in the coming weeks. The press release emphasized that all events will follow public health guidelines in San Francisco, where vaccination rates continue to climb.
