Day 59 (June 30): Gay Pride Parade, San Francisco, Ca.

I arrived in San Francisco around 10 PM on June 29th to find out from my cab driver that Gay Pride Parade was the next day. That is akin to arriving in Podunk on June 30th not knowing that July 1st is a huge bash, for want of a better word. I figured this was a can’t-miss…

The parade travelled up Mission Street over a dozen blocks or so, culminating in a public party at City Hall, all of which were a few blocks from where I was staying.  Crowds were lined up on both sides of Mission, at least 8 to 10 deep.  It was also a much more soberly attired crowd than I anticipated; while a lot of people were dressed up, it was not the norm. Some crowd shots:

It was not a parade in the traditional, North American view of a parade, with floats and marching bands.  While there were a few floats (and a couple of marching bands), the parade consisted mostly of community groups (not all with a GLBT slant) marching in support of diversity and GLBT rights (as well as any number of politicians looking to either show their support for the cause, or derive a benefit from their participation; not being up on San Francisco or California politics, I could not tell).

The parade started around 11 AM (about 30 minutes late).  There was a lull around 1 PM, so I figured the parade was over and headed to the City Hall area, where people were shoe-horned into cordoned off streets and a public square; it was actually difficult to move.  Along with food trucks and stands from community groups and merchants, there were supposed to be two or three stages of local entertainment, I only found one.  When I walked away around 2:15, the parade was still going on, well over three hours after it began.

There was an added feeling of exuberance or joy surrounding the parade as it came a few days after the US Supreme Court struck down the last hurdle to the legalization of gay marriage (as far as I understand).  Numerous couples were marching with signs that made statements like ‘Just Married’ or ‘Together for n years; about to get married’ to warm cheers from the crowd.

Also, of note, many young women were showing their support by going topless. I have absolutely no issues with that stance.

Random non-Parade comment:

- While I am not a huge BBQ fan, I have obviously hit a few BBQ joints in my recent travels, starting in Tennessee in late March/early April. Today, I had the best beef brisket (and the best tangy coleslaw for that matter) I have had in a BBQ joint in, of all places, the Haight neighbourhood at Memphis Minnie’s on Haight Street, west of Fillmore.