This weekend crowds of people gathered in various parts of the city to celebrate the 50th anniversary of pride.
And this year, the marches took a more intersectional approach in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
On Saturday, a lone police van attempted to stop marchers part of the “Pride Is A Riot” march. Their van was spray painted with them inside, and the officers rushed at protestors with batons. The officers eventually left through an alley as marchers continued walking up Valencia.
And then on Sunday, which is normally the day of the largest parade, organizers and activists took to the streets with chants of quote “hands up don’t shoot” and “Black lives matter.” Marchers were instructed to wear masks and reclaim pride.
I talked to Juanita More, a drag queen, chef, and mother among other things. For the last 17 years, she has hosted a non-profit pride party whose proceeds benefit organizations around San Francisco. This year, she turned her party into a march.
I think the feeling that came out of the people’s march yesterday was, for the first time for a lot of people, it actually felt like pride, it felt like the reason why people needed to be out in the streets. This year was the 50th anniversary of the march in San Francisco that started everything and that came out of the Compton Cafeteria riots and Stonewall in New York. So people became aware oh, this is what pride is about.
