In S. F., Pride weekend off to a joyful start
At annual festival, historic ruling adds to celebration
SAN FRANCISCO — Twenty years ago, Patrick Carney and friends sneaked up to San Francisco’s Twin Peaks in the middle of the night to unfurl a giant pink triangle on the hillside for all of the city to see.
“We put it up in the dark of night because we thought we’d be arrested,” said Carney, a gay rights activist.
But on Saturday, hundreds of people, including local politicians, gathered at the same spot to unveil a pink- triangle banner at the kickoff ceremony for the annual San Francisco Pride Festival.
The event is always a joyous occasion in San Francisco, and it is even more special this year because of Friday’s Supreme Court decision declaring same- sex marriage a constitutionally protected right in all 50 states.
“It’s a wonderful way to start Pride weekend, but we also need to remember where we’ve been and the struggles we fought,” Carney said during the ceremony. “The pink triangle is a perfect example of that.”
During the Nazi era, pink triangles were attached to the pockets of gay concentration camp prisoners .
Carney’s actions 20 years ago reclaimed the symbol, turning it from one of intolerance to that of pride and inclusion, said Michelle Meow , a board member with SFPride who spoke at the ceremony. “We must remind people of the hatred and prejudice that occurred and which must never be repeated ”
For many revelers, San Francisco Gay Pride is a chance to fl y their freak fl ag: to dress up, dance, drink and hang out with friends. But for many older members of the LGBT community, the event this year is a chance to refl ect on how far national attitudes have changed within the span of one generation.
“I don’t do Pride, but here I am,” said Carla Dillon, 55, of Alameda . She grew up in rural Virginia and said coming out was impossible when she was young.
“The KKK was strong where I’m from,” she said. “So what are you going to do? I came out to my parents and moved to a bigger city.”
Like Dillon, Larry Bruderer, 68, of San Francisco, said that after years of starts and stops in the fi ght for marriage equality, he had begun to feel that samesex unions would never be recognized by all states, especially in the more conservative South. But on Saturday, as Bruderer strolled through the Castro with Richard Clinton, his partner of 38 years, he marveled to be witnessing history in the making.
“I never thought I’d see it,” said Bruderer, who grew up in Texas. “With all the infl uence of religious institutions in this country, I didn’t think it was possible.”
Clinton, who is 71, said he was discharged from the military for being gay and later risked losing his job when his employer found out about his sexual orientation.
Many credit former San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s decision to issue marriage licenses to gay couples in 2004 for laying the foundation for a national movement for equality. The move came two days before Valentine’s Day, prompting hundreds of couples to line up outside San Francisco City Hall for a chance to have their union recognized.
“Gavin Newsom is my hero,” said Lester Temple, 61, of San Francisco. “He had the balls to make a statement. And now it’s the law of the land.”
Same- sex California couples seeking to wed suffered a setback with the approval of Proposition 8 in 2008, which defi ned marriage as a union between a man and a woman. That stayed on the books until it was struck down in 2013 by the U. S. Supreme Court.
Until Friday,
gay
marriage was still illegal in 13 states. Some conservative groups and legislators in red states continued on Saturday to voice their displeasure at the 5- 4 ruling, calling the decision an assault on state rights and the institution of marriage.
In Texas, Louisiana and Nebraska, governors said they would continue the fi ght against same- sex marriage.
At Dolores Park, Teri Prothero, 43, and Dickie Lambert, 42, posed with their two children, to commemorate the historic occasion. The couple has been together for more than a decade, but never married, in part because they were always afraid that the legality of same- sex marriage would be reversed.
“We were terrifi ed of the stress,” Prothero said. “We didn’t want to get it and then have it be taken away.”