In the Name of Pride

THIRTY YEARS AGO, San Diego’s first officially organized parade to celebrate the gay community was a bit of a ragtag affair. Only about 500 supporters joined in—scores of them wearing paper bags with cutouts over their heads so they wouldn’t be recognized. Public officials shunned the event, and police warned they couldn’t ensure participants’ safety as they marched up Sixth Avenue from Broadway to a parking lot near Balboa Park.

What a difference three decades makes.

This year’s 30th annual celebration, July 30– August 1, is expected to attract up to 150,000 parade-watchers and participants—making it San Diego’s largest civic event. Contingents of police, firefighters, elected officials and a wide spectrum of business groups will be out in force to salute San Diego LGBT Pride, as it’s now known, recognizing the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.

Nearly 200 floats and groups are expected to march in the event’s centerpiece parade July 31, held along University and Sixth avenues in the heart of Hillcrest, which kicks off two days of festivities in Balboa Park. The 2004 parade grand marshal is Nicole Ramirez- Murray, a longtime activist in San Diego’s gay community and one of the organizers of the first event in 1974.

“We’re recognized as one of the top five and best-organized Prides in the United States,” says Suanne Pauley, executive director of San Diego LGBT Pride. She credits the selection of mass-appeal, quality entertainment, as well as a near-perfect venue on the expansive grounds of Balboa Park.

Planners have pulled out extra stops for this year’s 30th anniversary. There are larger festival areas in the park for main-stage entertainment—which includes dance diva Kristine W. and the International Sonora Latino Show—more dance floors, a family area and more than 200 vendors and exhibits.

Grammy-winning singer k.d. lang, joined by the San Diego Symphony, performs August 1 during a special performance at Starlight Bowl in the park. Tickets for the concert, which is separate from the main festival admission, are $46.50 for general seating.

SAN DIEGO LGBT PRIDE 2004

July 30, 7:30 p.m. Spirit of Stonewall Rally, Spreckels Organ Pavilion; free

July 31, 11 a.m. Pride Parade, starts at University Avenue at Normal Street, running west to Sixth Avenue and south to Ivy Lane, ending at Upas Street

July 31, noon-10, August 1, 11-8 Pride Festival, Marston Point in Balboa Park: one-day admission, $12; two-day, $20

August 1, 9 p.m. k.d. lang concert, Starlight Bowl, Balboa Park; $46.50 per person

For more information: www.sdpride.org.

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