We were staying with friends in San Francisco in a houseboat near the AT&T park, and our niece told us that the LGBT Pride Parade was happening the same weekend. Though we lived most of our lives a short distance from San Francisco, we had never seen this parade before, which is one of the largest and oldest of its type in the world. The parade route runs along Market Street in Downtown San Francisco from the Embarcadero to the Civic center with more than 100,000 spectators reported.
Yesterday there had been a Dykes on Bikes parade, which is a women’s motorcycle contingent. They also led off the LGBT Pride parade today, showing off their bikes… and often their bodies… in style.
Gay issues have been a hot topic for decades in San Francisco, and most local politicians support them. It has become standard for most of the elected officials and local celebrities to ride convertibles through the parade.
There were also several cars (and one bicycle taxi, as seen in the left image above) carrying various celebrities of the LGBT (Lesbians, Gays, Bisexual, and Transgender) community.
There were several causes being celebrated, though all related in some way to the LGBT community. The newspapers were saying that this parade gave a chance for straights to show their support and to have a party. Indeed, one cause in the parade was “straights for gay rights” (center). There were also several groups directed mostly at the current political climate of hatred being fostered in Washington (upper row and lower-right).
This is also a chance for various corporations to show their support for the LGBT community, with many more corporate floats and groups present than are shown above.
Along with the various groups, politicians, and corporations, there were interspersed individuals taking the opportunity to make personal statements, and celebrate being “characters attracting attention.”
There were even a few young kids brought along, usually in groups that were supporting keeping immigrant or non-traditional families together.
And whenever there is a parade, we always like to turn around and watch the audience. Today was no exception.