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PRIDE: SF Shakes It Up
A total of more than 200,000 spectators braved the cold June 28 for San Francisco's 28th annual Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Freedom Day Parade-not counting six dogs that marched with the AIDS service group PAWS (Pets Are Wonderful Support). The theme was "Shakin'It Up." The traditional Dykes on Bikes leadoff included more than 500 women on motorcycles. Further up the four-hour line of march were hundreds of children with their Gay and Lesbian parents. San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown was there in a purple fedora, along with politicians including openly Lesbian state Assemblymember Carole Migden, openly Gay San Mateo County Supervisor Richard Gordon, and state Superintendent of Education Delaine Eastin. Mayor Brown said the parade "represents almost a Super Bowl for the city from a commercial standpoint. It [also] represents the spirit of this city...the creativity that is this city and the diversity that is this city."
Only a handful of fundamentalist Christians turned out to protest, standing at Powell and Market with a bullhorn and signs including "Warning to all homosexuals-Judgment is Coming!" The previous year, there had been a bomb threat.
This year's events had a half-million-dollar budget and more corporate sponsorship than ever before, making for a slicker production. San Francisco Pride's promulgation of the idea that the Gay and Lesbian community is a "Dream Market" sparked the formation of Lesbian and Gay Insurrection (LAGAI), which spread stickers and flyers through the Castro district saying, "Our Pride is Not for Sale." However, proceeds from this year's events should just about wipe out the $160,000 debt from last year's Pride.
Efforts were also made to improve the logistics of the event, from closing off cross-streets on the march route to speed the parade itself, to extra BART commuter trains to handle the crowds. The event was also televised live locally.
Other myriad Pride '98 events included a Dyke March on June 27, the famed Frameline Gay and Lesbian film festival, a San Francisco Museum of Modern Art exhibit of the work of the late Gay Keith Haring, the 20th annual Pride Concert by the San Francisco Lesbian & Gay and Gay Men's Choruses featuring Canberra's Gay and Lesbian Qwire, drag celebrity impersonations, a barbecue for Gay and Lesbian Peace Corps members, the 18th annual Pride Fun Run through Golden Gate Park, a bike ride across the Golden Gate Bridge, and an HIV remembrance celebration at Chamizal National Memorial Park that featured what was billed as the world's largest AIDS ribbon. Another giant landmark was the pink Triangle on top of the Twin Peaks-120 feet across, twice as big as its predecessor. The festival included one stage devoted entirely to African-American performers, a stage for Latino/a performers, and a special "safe space" for youth participants. [Newsplanet]
PRIDE: Rudy Blockers Arrested
In the home of the Stonewall Rebellion, whose anniversary Pride celebrations mark, the 29th Annual Gay and Lesbian Pride March strutted down Fifth Avenue to historic Greenwich Village on June 28. Although organizers estimated a total of 600,000 marchers and spectators, estimates ranged as high as two million. Seventeen Gay and three Lesbian protestors wearing "Rudy Get Out Of Our Parade" T-shirts were arrested for disorderly conduct after chaining themselves together across the boulevard in an effort to block Republican Mayor Rudy Giuliani from participating. They stopped him for all of about 10 seconds before he simply went around them on the sidewalk.
Although many Gays and Lesbians have applauded Giuliani's introduction of a landmark bill passed by the City Council to give registered domestic partners the same city benefits, rights and responsibilities as legally married couples, the demonstrators feel he's failed to respond effectively to homophobic violence, not done enough to improve AIDS education in the schools, and erred in his efforts to close down "adult" businesses. Giuliani had proclaimed "Out in Government Day" in a City Hall ceremony on June 22.
Under the theme "Unity Through Diversity," Lesbian and Gay motorcyclists led off the parade, variously estimated from 100 to more than 200, followed by more than 300 other units. The grand marshals were openly Gay City Councilmember Philip Reed and openly Lesbian City Councilmember Margarita Lopez; other politicians participating included the city's public advocate and U.S. Senate hopeful Mark Green, and Lieutenant Governor and gubernatorial hopeful Betsy McCaughey Ross. Also marching were Jon and Michael Galluccio, the men who won unmarried couples the right to adopt children together in New Jersey. Members of a Lesbian S-M group bared their breasts. The parade ended with a street festival at Pier 54. [Newsplanet]
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