Even before the weekend officially started, plenty of major Pride events kicked off in San Francisco.
Driving down Market Street and many other areas of the city, you can see Pride flags adorning windows and street corners. The festivities will culminate with the official San Francisco Pride Celebration on Saturday and Sunday, which will bring stages, music, arts, and street fairs to Civic Center, plus the highly anticipated Pride parade on Sunday.
Thursday off of Market Street, San Francisco Pride hosted a block party featuring guest DJs and lots of dancing.
Block party host Spring Collins said the goal is to bring “a little joy.”
“We need more joy,” she emphasized.
“I’ve been saying: if you come to San Francisco Pride, it’s a revolutionary act,” said Suzanne Ford, the executive director of the nonprofit SF Pride, which organizes the festivities.
Ford said that for the parade this year, they are expecting around 200 separate contingents. She also said she would like to see record crowds at this year’s events.
“It would send a very clear message that here in San Francisco, you can be who you are, you can love who you love, because we value inclusion, diversity, and equity,” Ford said.
The theme of this year’s SF Pride festivities is “Queer Joy is Resistance.”
“Number one: we are going to stand up to the hate and oppression that we’re feeling out there, LGBTQ people and especially trans people,” Ford said. “Number two: we’re going to have fun on Pride Sunday.”
Community members in San Francisco said that in light of recent federal policies targeting trans people and cuts to DEI, it feels especially important to show up for Pride events this year.
“Particularly the LGBTQ+ community, it’s time to stand up and be visible, and out and proud,” said San Francisco resident Wilson Hardcastle, who attended the block party.
Also on Thursday, hundreds of people gathered on the steps of San Francisco City Hall in a rally for transgender youth healthcare.
Organizers said they were already planning the event, but last week they felt more urgency to come together after the Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee ban on gender affirming care for minors.
Several LGBTQIA+ youth spoke at the rally, including a 14-year-old Bay Area resident named Ryan, who shared that he came out as trans when he was 7.
“It’s 2025, and it’s devastating to see things like the decision that was made by the Supreme Court happen,” Ryan said to NBC Bay Area.
Ryan said that coming to the rally reminded him of how many people in his community support him.
“It is just important to keep showing that we’re here, we’re going to keep resisting when things get hard,” he continued.
Earlier in the day on Thursday, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie joined public safety officials to outline the city’s plans to ensure it’s a safe event for everyone.
“While many of us will be marching and celebrating, my top priority remains making sure everyone feels safe and free to be themselves,” Lurie said.
He noted that visitors to Pride will see law enforcement officers stationed at key points across the city as well as fire and medical staff staged along the parade route.
“San Francisco will host one of the largest gatherings of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies in the world, [and] will have visitors from around the globe,” noted Deputy San Francisco Police Chief Derrick Lew.
Lew said police will be out in force this weekend with specialized units ready to respond to any major incident.
“Just like any large gathering of this type, public safety is our number one priority,” Lew said.
“As you all are aware, this year also brings new concerns and challenges, tensions are heightened due to national and global events, but our message is clear: San Francisco is ready,” he continued.
Pride organizers said they will also have hundreds of volunteers down the parade route.
“Then at the Civic Center, we spent over $600,000 for the two days for security, so we have our own security, [and] we have volunteers at the Civic Center,” Suzanne Ford said.
There will be many more Pride events throughout the weekend, including the Trans March on Friday, a Pride Celebration night with the Golden State Valkyries on Friday, and the Dyke March on Saturday. On Sunday, the parade will start at 10 a.m. at Market Street, followed by a massive celebration at Civic Center.
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source link
