A dazzling mix of sun, rainbows
Crowds joyfully sweat out LGBT parade, festival
On a Sunday that was too hot for leather, the chaps were out in force anyway, as the San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade and Celebration made its 48th annual march up Market Street.
The Pride Parade, which runs from Beale Street near the Embarcadero to the Civic Center and takes around five hours, was again kicked off by Dykes on Bikes revving their motorcycles and rattling windows in the Financial District canyon.
Hundreds of thousands of spectators lined the parade route, many heading to Civic Center afterward for a festival featuring live entertainment, informational booths and concessions.
Before the 10:30 a.m. send-off, the bikes were all quiet at the starting point. Behind them in the procession was Sen. Kamala Harris in a 1940 Buick convertible, at risk of overheating at any minute.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, apparently learned her lesson on riding in a classic car a few years ago when hers broke down halfway and she had to walk to the Civic Center in heels. This time she was in a new white BMW convertible, grandchildren on each side of her.
Behind Pelosi was state Sen. Scott Wiener in a bright yellow Chevrolet pickup. It was Wiener’s 22nd Pride Parade, and he brought along three first-timers from the state Senate: Ricardo Lara of Bell Gardens (Los Angeles County), Bill Dodd of Napa and Bob Wieckowski of Fremont.
“I wanted my colleagues to understand why Pride matters so much,” he said. “We work so hard on LGBT policy in the Legislature.”
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the rainbow flag by San Franciscan Gilbert Baker,
and that symbol was everywhere Sunday. Along the route were people in rainbow tutus and T-shirts, and vendors were selling flags for $5 apiece.
One man sat on a concrete ledge on the sidewalk, staring into his iPhone camera as he carefully glued on rainbow fake eyelashes. Once the lashes were on, he crossed his legs, blinked several times and smiled at the hundreds of passersby.
Back at the start of the procession, participants were putting the final touches on floats and blowing air into inflatable flamingos. Rachel Vancleave, 24, of Emeryville was accessorizing a maid’s costume.
“I’m a very trans maid,” she said. “I’m going to get even more transier later when I get into my bunny outfit.”
Dashon Allen, 19, was up at 6 a.m. to prepare. It was his first Pride Parade, an event that didn’t interest him, he said, until he “got into the LGBT community.”
His eyes full of sleep, Allen was pasting silver glitter onto his torso, dousing himself until his entire stomach was covered. He pasted two silver marijuana leaves onto his nipples, slipped on his 8-inchhigh heels and waited for his friends to pick him up to hit the road from Vacaville.
“This is my first time I’ve ever worn heels,” Allen said, wobbling on the pavement. “Every queen deserves a little glitter in their lives.”
As the parade reached the Civic Center, long lines formed at security check-in points. Midtown Social, a soul and funk band, played the larger of two stages. The temperature pushed higher into the 70s, and the leathers started to come off, along with all other forms of clothing.
Stephanie Stills, who identifies as pansexual, came all the way from Lancaster, Pa., to wear a pink-and-silver wig with a unicorn, a rainbow feather boa and a tie-dyed skirt, an outfit she might not hazard to wear back home in Amish country.
“Everyone needs to feel as though they can be themselves,” she said. “How is it possible to live your life if you can’t experience what it’s like to be alive?”
Mayor-elect London Breed arrived on a float and took the stage just before 1:45 p.m. decked out in Warriors colors — a mustard yellow suit and a blue shirt.
“Let me tell you, when I went through the parade, to see the faces, the people from everywhere, you know what makes this city amazing?” she screamed into the microphone. “It’s not the Golden Gate Bridge, the monuments, it’s the people. Now as our values are threatened, we need pride more than ever.”