San Francisco Pride 2009: Pride in the name of equality

June 26, 12:30 AMSF Travel ExaminerEd Uyeshima

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Rainbow wear in front of City Hall (Photo: Ed Uyeshima)

This year, the San Francisco Pride Parade falls on Sunday June 28, the exact date of the start of Stonewall rebellion forty years ago in Greenwich Village. One year later, San Francisco Pride Celebration was established, and this weekend marks the 39th anniversary with the theme being "In Order to Form a More Perfect Union.”

The two-day festival over Saturday, June 27 (12 noon to 6PM), and Sunday, June 28 (12 noon to 7PM), is free for all to participate. As usual, the Civic Center will be the locale for various booths, performance stages and vendors. On the Sunday, an area of the festival called Leather Alley features fetish and BDSM-oriented booths and demonstrations. There will be over 200 parade contingents and 300 exhibitors, which makes the San Francisco Pride Celebration not surprisingly the largest gathering of LGBT people and friends in the nation.

The parade itself is California’s second largest parade after the Tournament of Roses Parade. It begins at 10:30AM and makes its way up Market Street to 8th Street, finishing at around 2:30PM. The celebrity grand marshals are actress Cloris Leachman, still spry at 83; Lieutenant Dan Choi, who declared his sexual orientation publicly on “The Rachel Maddow Show” and was immediately discharged; and the “Milk” team: film producer Bruce Cohen, photographer Dan Nicoletta and documentary film producer Howard Rosenman. Beyonce’s little sister Solange Knowles headlines the main stage. Until the month, Pride-related events like the Queer Arts Festival and Frameline (the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival) host films, discussions and other performances.