Whether you’re looking for family-friendly fun or a wild night on the town, there’s something for everyone.
There are parades and festivals, of course, but also dance parties, movie nights, drag shows, bar crawls and more. "That's the next generation right there."Ĭarolyn Jones is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.Pride month is finally here, and there are countless ways to celebrate here in the Bay Area. "Although it's all relative," she added, pointing to a toddler dancing with the crowd. "But the thing for young people is to not sit on our haunches. "We get all the benefits of those campaigns," she said. The struggles of yesteryear were not lost on Sarah Benitez, an Oakland nurse in her 30s who was marching with the Hot Pink Feathers dance troupe. "The kids and parents here are more likely to be accepting, respectful, open." "I felt like I could seek employment in San Leandro and feel safe," said Victoria Forrester, principal of Roosevelt Elementary in San Leandro, who marched Sunday with several dozen parents, teachers, administrators and high school students from the quiet East Bay suburb. The teacher sued, won and now San Leandro is one of the most gay-friendly districts around, faculty said. That's a far cry from the late 1990s, when a San Leandro High teacher was disciplined for discussing racism and homophobia in his honors English class. As part of a decade-old legal settlement, San Leandro schools now boast a comprehensive antibullying curriculum that includes LGBT tolerance and parent education. The fight for gay rights is alive and well in San Leandro, whose school district was the only such contingent in the parade. "I'm grateful for the young people today, but they need to know that we cannot stop fighting." "A lot of young people don't know what we went through 30 years ago, that they're the end result of our generation's hard work, pain, abuse, deaths," he said. Not only did young gay people face widespread discrimination, many were disowned by their families, further alienating them from the mainstream, he said.īeyond societal challenges, AIDS - the scourge of the 1980s and '90s - killed thousands of young gay men, galvanizing the gay-rights movement but also leaving a devastating void in the community, he said. It was an amazing time, but also terrifying." But I went because I had decided I was gay, and I didn't want others to define me. "I was with a friend, a teacher, and every time he saw a camera, he hid his face. When he marched in the first Gay Pride Parade, on Fifth Avenue in New York, the mood was decidedly less celebratory than Sunday's pageant. He was a newly "out" New Yorker in 1969 when the Stonewall riots erupted and spawned the modern gay rights movement. Perhaps no one was more struck by the generation gap than Arthur Friedman, 67, who was marching with the San Francisco SPCA contingent. Sunny skies and mild weather made for a perfect San Francisco day, as rainbow flags flapped in the breeze and the 200-foot pink triangle on Twin Peaks shone over the city. Thousands lined Market Street for the parade, which culminated with a six-hour party at Civic Center. I tell you, this younger generation is amazing.
Johnstone added, "They'll have their own problems, but they'll be up for it. It seems like everything has loosened up." They won't have to suffer through that lens of AIDS and death and inequality. "It's so nice to see a generation that doesn't have to face those problems. "We come from a time when things were pretty grim," said David Faulk, 57, who was at the parade with his partner of 18 years, Michael Johnstone, 49.
For many veterans of the LGBT movement, the most heartening sight at Sunday's 42nd annual Pride celebration was the thousands of young gay people who appeared to take it all for granted. Forget the legal breakthroughs and political battles.