‘Yay gay!’: San Francisco Pride takes over city streets in its 39th year

From leather-clad to barely clad, masses numbering in the hundreds of thousands partied proud in downtown San Francisco this past weekend. June 27-28 marked the 39th anniversary of the San Francisco Pride Celebration & Parade, and judging by the morning-after media reports, the famous festival doesn’t seem to be getting dull with age.

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When Gay Pride Day Takes Two Weeks

MADRID | As happens with many Spanish celebrations, Gay Pride “Day” has rather miraculously been stretched out into nearly two weeks of parties, performances, parades, rallies, exhibitions, conferences, and lots and lots of late-night festivities. When I arrived here from New York City nearly seven years ago, Orgullo, as the festival is known, was already a five-day extravaganza bursting at the seams with events and activities and non-stop socializing from which the city’s citizenry — gay, straight and undecided — often needed about five days to recover.

But Madrid has recently begun pushing the envelope even further by scheduling its pride parade a week after the typical last-weekend-in-June date respected almost everywhere else around the globe. By ceding this Saturday, June 27, to Spain’s provincial capitals for their local pride celebrations, Madrid now guarantees that all of Spain will be free to attend its parade and parties on the following Saturday, this year on July 4.

And indeed, attendance in recent years has reportedly topped 2 million, making Madrid’s Orgullo festivities likely the largest party in Europe of any stripe for four years running.

Which is not to say that this weekend, as the parades and parties are getting under way in other cities and towns across the country from Barcelona to Tenerife, that gay Madrid will staying in and resting up.

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Bombing at Sao Paolo Pride

21 people were injured by a bomb thrown at the world’s largest Pride celebration in Sao Paolo.

Pride Mass, Pride Booth & March down Market Street highlights Oasis Celbration of SF Pride 2009

The Episcopal Diocese of California will mark this year’s San Francisco Pride Celebration & Parade by celebrating a Pride Mass, staffing a booth one the Pride Festival grounds and sending a diverse contingent down Market Street during the Pride Parade. Set for Saturday June 27 and Sunday June 28, Pride events are free and open to the public.
The Pride Mass
Our Bishop, the RT. Rev. Marc Andrus, will join Lutheran Bishop Mark Holmerund in celebrating our annual Pride Mass. Set to start at 10:30 AM, we will worship on the street at the location where we gather to march in the parade (check back here or at www.oasisca.org a few days before the parade for the exact location). Members of the Lutherans Concerned contingent will join us for this special outdoor Eucharist.
The Celebration Booth
On Saturday and Sunday, volunteers from Oasis California will staff a booth on the Pride Celebration grounds near City Hall. Oasis Board Members Judy Lebens and Justin Cannon are coordinating this aspect of our celebration. For the first time in several years we’ll be able to talk with people about our work to include LGBT as full members of our church, our stand for marriage equality, and the location of LGBT friendly Episcopal congregations around the Bay Area. We’ll also be distributing information on the Bible, homosexuality, Anglicanism and Oasis California. To volunteer or find out where to send information about your parish please e-mail Judy and Justin at booth@oasisca.org.
The Parade & Cable Car
On Sunday our diocese will be represented by a contingent of LGBT Episcopalians and their straight allies, friends, family members, fellow congregants and children. This year we will have a cable car bus so that people who can’t walk the route can join in the parade. The cable car offers a great way for children to be part of the parade. As we march down Market Street we’ll be distributing more than 1,000 “Blessed Bubbles” kits to help people “spread joy & dispel fear of marriage equality.”
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We Need Parade Monitors!
Once again we are recruiting people to serve as monitors, a post that requires a brief training session and comes with a neat button. There is also the fact that without enough parade monitors, our contingent will not march. Two Oasis volunteers, Fernando and Charles, are coordinating our monitors. To volunteer as a monitor, please e-mail them at parade@oasisca.org.
Monitor training programs include:
· Wed 6/17 7:00 pm Kaiser Permanente, 1800 Harrison, Oakland
· Fri 6/19 7:00 pm Ceremonial Room – The Center, 1800 Market St.,SF
· Sat 6/20* 12:00 pm Koret Auditorium – SF Library, 100 Larkin St, SF
· Sat 6/20 3:00 pm Women’s Building Auditorium, 3543 18th St, SF
· Tue 6/23* 8:30 pm Head over Heels, 4701 Doyle St # F, Emeryville
· (Additional sessions will probably be scheduled in San Francisco just before Pride.)
If you can’t join us, Watch on TV
There are four ways to watch the 39th annual San Francisco Pride Parade:
· LIVE Broadcast: On Comcast Digital Channel 99 starting at 10:00 a.m. in all Comcast serviceable areas throughout California.
· LIVE Webcast: Clear Channel Radio on SFPrideLive.com Live & Uncensored from 10:00 a.m. until the end.
· Prime Time: KOFY TV 20/Cable 13, starting at 8:00 p.m.
· Comcast: Comcast Channel 1 On Demand/Local Events starting June 29th at 7:00 p.m. until July 31st