Early American Musings

San Francisco Pride, a gathering of a million people, unfolded today on Market Street. The sight was a testament to the event’s remarkable inclusivity, with even unexpected participants like the Mennonite Church adding to the vibrant mix.  The parade, a four-hour spectacle, was a celebration of diversity and unity.

Despite the challenges posed by President Trump’s attacks on LGBTQ+ rights and the general MAGA backlash on EDI, San Francisco Pride stood strong. The withdrawal of some corporate sponsors, such as Anheuser-Busch, Diageo, Comcast, and Meta, was a setback. However, the event’s resilience was evident in the support of other sponsors like Starbucks, Disney, United Airlines, IKEA, Amazon, and Hawaiian Airlines.

The organisers sought to convert Pride into something of a protest, which of course the early Prides were. The theme was ‘Queer Joy is Resistance, and that seemed to sum up a lot of the event: joy and resistance.

There were many obvious protests opposing President Trump’s policies and against ICE’s activities. However, the feel of the day remained very much one of a party and celebration, as well as a protest.

The parade included people of all creeds, colours, shapes, and sizes. There were Caribbean and Latin American bands, giving a distinctly tropical vibe, and a group marching with all the flags from Europe–particularly significant in the context of Budapest Pride the day before. Budapest Pride had been banned by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose government has introduced a swathe of anti-gay legislation linking LGBTQ+ rights with paedophilia. Some of the laws, in many ways reflective of Margaret Thatcher’s infamous Section 28 in the UK, restrict any gatherings or events ‘promoting homosexuality’, which can be viewed by minors. Despite this, an estimated 200,000 people had gathered in Budapest to celebrate Pride and to protest. And that was very much the attitude of Pride in San Francisco.

But not everything was too serious. There was a Mutt Pride, where people brought their dogs, in an ever wider array of appearances than their owners. My personal highlight was definitely a very large rabbit on a remote-controlled scooter!

New York is the home of Pride, which started as a commemoration of the Stonewall Riots a year after the event and soon developed into the Pride we know today. However, San Francisco is, in many ways, the home of LGBTQ+ rights and power. Harvey Milk was the first openly gay elected official, serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He was assassinated in 1978, just under a year after his election, and has since become a symbol of the LGBTQ+ rights movement. He showed the openly gay men could be elected to office and opened the door for LGBTQ+ people to exercise political power.