San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
READY TO RIDE WITH PRIDE
Subdued celebration in Hillcrest, online events keep up spirit
Several people gather on the corner of University Avenue and Normal Street on Saturday in Hillcrest before riding their bicycles down what would have been the San Diego Pride parade route. Much of the celebration moved online this year.
In the shadow of the giant rainbow flag billowing high above University Avenue and Normal Street, Sarafina Scapicchio raised her arms to the sky, a smaller version of the multicolored banners clutched in each hand.
Just after 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Scapicchio thrust her arms toward the ground, signaling to the riders to kick their motorcycles into gear and let loose.
Nearly a dozen Indian and Harley-davidson engines roared past Scapicchio and turned west toward the heart of Hillcrest. With that, one of the region’s most cherished events was officially under way.
“I’m the director of philanthropy for San Diego Pride, and that was a thrill,” Scapicchio said moments later. “What a wonderful thing to see our women all start off the parade during a pandemic.”
The annual celebration of the LGBTQ community — and everything its members and loved ones have worked for, and work for still — opened Saturday in a year and manner like none before.
Members of the San Diego Women Riders motorcycle club kicked off the event, as they always do. But this time last July there were 100 or more motorcyclists leading a cavalcade of floats, marching bands and performers of all kinds that stretched for a dozen or more blocks.
“Normally it’s Pride parade and we have hundreds of bikes out here,” said Irene Herrig of San Diego Women Riders. “But we’re just keeping the flow going, trying to make things as normal as possible.”
Herrig had one singleminded message for San Diego Pride participants, almost all of whom were forced online due to the coronavirus pandemic afflicting the country and world.
“Wear your mask,” she said. “And try not to let the fear get to you.”
The COVID-19 outbreak did not succeed in canceling San Diego Pride 2020. But it drastically altered what has become one of the greatest parties and highest-profile awareness campaigns for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in San Diego County.
While the women motorcyclists rolled west on University Avenue, 25 or 30 bicycle riders trailed behind as drivers slowed and honked their car horns to show their support.
Jesus Sanchez of University Heights was among them, waiting astride his bicycle for the green light to get going behind the motorcycles. The men’s life coach said it was important to him to be at the opening.
“This is a great way to participate,” Sanchez said. “It seems like this year more than ever, we need community.”
In a normal year, tens of thousands of people would jam the sidewalks along the length of the parade route all the way to Balboa Park. Shops and restaurants would be so crowded that lines for table service would stretch out the door for hours upon end, and the parties would last into the early morning.
This year, the turnout was much lower, even if the enthusiasm was not.
Dozens of businesses hung rainbow flags outside their storefronts. Restaurants were able to serve lunches and dinners on patios throughout the day, with appropriate social distancing and a bottle of hand sanitizer set on most every dining table.
Quincy Tessaverne came south from Del Mar early Saturday to celebrate the event. She parked in Normal Heights and rode her bike to Rich’s San Diego, the noted Hillcrest nightclub that was doing a relatively brisk business.
“We so want to support our businesses here, and support our friends — even if it’s from a distance,” said Tessaverne, who runs a mobile bar business that has been affected by the pandemic.
“The crowd is different this year for sure,” she said. “Usually you see everyone you know and it’s such a happy day. Today, not so much.”
San Diego Pride organizers migrated mostly online, offering a daylong presentation of music, interviews and congratulatory messages from celebrities, community leaders and local elected officials.
Hosted by Executive Director Fernando Lopez, the seven-hour broadcast was streamed from the terraces of the insideout restaurant just east of Normal Street.
The event was more than entertainment and celebration. It also served as a fundraiser for the nonprofit organization that presents the week of San Diego Pride activities and works throughout the year to raise awareness of issues affecting the LGBTQ community.
Lopez said in the early afternoon that the event had already generated more than $40,000.
Throughout the livestream Saturday, tributes were paid to victims of bias and bigotry that has harmed gay and transgender people for decades.
Among those honored were Black Pride San Diego, a group of LGBTQ activists whose work and recognition was made all the more pressing after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in late May.
The program also remembered the 100-plus victims of the Pulse Nightclub mass shooting in Orlando, Fla., four years ago, as well as the dozens of transgender women, mostly Black, who have been murdered in recent years due to their sexual identity.
The protest song cover band Resizters performed “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke.
“It’s been a long, a long time coming,” they sang. “But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will.”