Sam Whiting and Sarah Ravani are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers.Since that time, the Pride flag has become the basic model for numerous flags representing the spectrum of identifications via gender, sexuality, and fetish. Now as our values are threatened, we need pride more than ever.” “It’s not the Golden Gate Bridge, the monuments, it’s the people. “Let me tell you, when I went through the parade, to see the faces, the people from everywhere, you know what makes this city amazing?” she screamed into the microphone.
decked out in Warriors colors - a mustard yellow suit and a blue shirt. Mayor-elect London Breed arrived on a float and took the stage just before 1:45 p.m. “How is it possible to live your life if you can’t experience what it’s like to be alive?” “Everyone needs to feel as though they can be themselves,” she said. Stephanie Stills, who identifies as pansexual, came all the way from Lancaster, Pa., to wear a pink-and-silver wig with a unicorn, a rainbow feather boa and a tie-dyed skirt, an outfit she might not hazard to wear back home in Amish country. The temperature pushed higher into the 70s, and the leathers started to come off, along with all other forms of clothing. Midtown Social, a soul and funk band, played the larger of two stages. “Every queen deserves a little glitter in their lives.”Īs the parade reached the Civic Center, long lines formed at security check-in points. “This is my first time I’ve ever worn heels,” Allen said, wobbling on the pavement. He pasted two silver marijuana leaves onto his nipples, slipped on his 8-inch-high heels and waited for his friends to pick him up to hit the road from Vacaville.
His eyes full of sleep, Allen was pasting silver glitter onto his torso, dousing himself until his entire stomach was covered. It was his first Pride Parade, an event that didn’t interest him, he said, until he “got into the LGBT community.” “I’m going to get even more transier later when I get into my bunny outfit.”ĭashon Allen, 19, was up at 6 a.m. Rachel Vancleave, 24, of Emeryville was accessorizing a maid’s costume. Once the lashes were on, he crossed his legs, blinked several times and smiled at the hundreds of passersby.īack at the start of the procession, participants were putting the final touches on floats and blowing air into inflatable flamingos. One man sat on a concrete ledge on the sidewalk, staring into his iPhone camera as he carefully glued on rainbow fake eyelashes. Along the route were people in rainbow tutus and T-shirts, and vendors were selling flags for $5 apiece. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the rainbow flag by San Franciscan Gilbert Baker, and that symbol was everywhere Sunday. “We work so hard on LGBT policy in the Legislature.” “I wanted my colleagues to understand why Pride matters so much,” he said. It was Wiener’s 22nd Pride Parade, and he brought along three first-timers from the state Senate: Ricardo Lara of Bell Gardens (Los Angeles County), Bill Dodd of Napa and Bob Wieckowski of Fremont.
Scott Wiener in a bright yellow Chevrolet pickup. This time she was in a new white BMW convertible, grandchildren on each side of her.īehind Pelosi was state Sen. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, apparently learned her lesson on riding in a classic car a few years ago when hers broke down halfway and she had to walk to the Civic Center in heels. Kamala Harris in a 1940 Buick convertible, at risk of overheating at any minute. send-off, the bikes were all quiet at the starting point. Hundreds of thousands of spectators lined the parade route, many heading to Civic Center afterward for a festival featuring live entertainment, informational booths and concessions.īefore the 10:30 a.m.