San Francisco Pride Plans Take Shape

Officials with the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee are preparing for this year's parade and celebration June 25-26. Improvements in crowd flow and other areas are planned, the entertainment lineup is being developed, and funds are being raised to pay for it all.

George Ridgely, executive director of the SF Pride, said in response to emailed questions that he doesn't anticipate the crowds being "quite as big" as they were at last year's events, which came immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples may legally marry in all 50 states.

However, he said, "We hope to see that level of enthusiasm and participation again," and organizers are working on improving crowd flow.

"We are making changes to the layout of the celebration at Civic Center, but most of those changes are in the back-of-house production areas," Ridgely said. "Stages and venues will remain in the same locations they have been for many years."

Details about main stage entertainment headliners aren't available, but he said, "We are close to making some announcements, hopefully in the next few weeks."

One detail announced this week is that the stars of the Fuse TV series Transcendent will serve as celebrity grand marshals. Bambiana, Bionka, LA, Nya, and Xristina are a group of young, talented trans women who are expected to be in the parade.

In related news, SF Pride released the names of additional community grand marshals and other honorees. They include: Mia "Tu Mutch" Satya and Fresh White, who are grand marshals; Mike Shriver, Lifetime Achievement Award; Deana Dawn, Audrey Joseph LGBTQ Entertainment Award; Joanie Juster, 10 Years of Service Award; Sally Miller Gearhart, Pride Freedom Award; Mercedez Munro, Pride Creativity Award; and the St. James Infirmary, Pride Community Award. (The Bay Area Reporter will have more on the honorees next week.)

One development that could have an impact is a shooting that took place at the 2013 festival. Two men who were shot at the event sued the SF Pride committee, claiming security at the event had been lax. One of the lawsuits has been settled, while the other one is scheduled for trial in November.

An attorney in the case that settled, which involved shooting victim Trevor Gardner, had suggested that the hundreds of thousands of people who attend the annual Pride festival should have to go through metal detectors and have their bags checked.

Asked last week if there were any changes to security he could share, or whether there would be bag checks or metal detectors, Ridgely said, "Security plans have not been finalized," and SF Pride officials "continue to work closely" with police on logistics. He declined to say whether the lawsuits have had any impact at all on SF Pride's plans, citing the pending lawsuit.

A common complaint about SF Pride is the gaps between floats and other contingents in the parade.

Ridgely said that this year, organizers "plan to implement changes throughout the parade route, in particular the dispersal area at the end of the parade," in order to "improve flow and egress. As with every year, we are keeping a close eye on construction in the staging area and the dispersal area to anticipate any impact it may have on the flow of the parade; and we continue our messaging of best practices to everyone participating in the parade to help us mitigate gaps between the contingents."

Finances

Over the years, SF Pride has also worked to do a better job collecting donations at the gate. Attending Pride is free, but there's a suggested donation of $5 to $10, which helps pay for expenses and support nonprofit community groups.

In response to a question about whether any changes would be made to encourage more people to contribute as they enter the festival area, Ridgely said, "We have actually seen a slight increase in donations over the past two years. We are looking at potential changes to our gate donation structure, but again, no plans have been finalized. The changes we are making to improve access and egress will also help in raising funds at the entry gates."

SF Pride's budget this year is $2.3 million, which includes celebration and parade production costs and year-round operations. Corporate sponsors have so far pledged almost $1 million, $200,000 in registration fees have been collected, and organizers are getting $73,000 from the city's Grants for the Arts program, Ridgely said.

Since 1997, SF Pride has provided over $2.5 million in grants to community groups. Part of that is through working with donation and beverage partners, who provide volunteers in exchange for funding. The deadline for donation and beverage partner applications is April 22. Applications are available at http://sfpride.org/community/application.

Ridgely noted that this year, which is themed "For Racial and Economic Justice," marks SF Pride's 46th annual event, and there are also other "significant anniversaries," including the 40th anniversaries of the Dykes on Bikes motorcycle contingent and Frameline, San Francisco's international LGBT film festival. The 50th anniversary of the Compton's Cafeteria riot is also approaching. During the August 1966 riot, transgender patrons stood up against police, who had been called to quell a disturbance. The exact date of the riot has been lost to history.

"The LGBT movement grew out of the civil rights and women's rights movements of the 1960s, and our theme in 2016 speaks directly to the continued intersectionality of our collective and continued struggles for equality and social justice," Ridgely said.

Others associated with this year's Pride parade and celebration didn't respond to requests for comment for this story.