After 2016's election, the following year's theme couldn't have been more timely: "Rise, Resist, Unite." (Courtesy of GLBT Historical Society, via Lenore Chinn)
50 Years of Pride: A Look at San Francisco's Parades Throughout the Years
04 June 2020
On June 5th, 1970, some 30 San Franciscans marched down Polk Street—once our city's hub of queer culture—for the first-ever Gay Freedom Day. That small happening would later grow into what we all know and love as San Francisco Pride, which attracted an estimated 100,000 spectators in 2019.
Now in 2020, SF Pride was set to celebrate its golden anniversary until COVID-19 put the kibosh on the 50th annual parade and its constellation of parties and events. This year's celebration will instead be an all-digital affair to abide by social distancing mandates.
It's a blow, we know. You could almost hear the collective moan across the City when the news broke in early April. But let's face it, the LGBTQ community has weathered worse, and at least our modern technological age allows for plenty of wonderful ways to virtually celebrate Pride this year.
We highly recommend everyone check out the GLBT Historical Society's free online exhibit, 50 Years of Pride, which showcases the work of 100 historical photographers and visual media from Pride throughout the years.
"Culling through the archives at the GLBT Historical Society, we found a treasure trove of photographs, snapshots and 35 millimeter color slides that began to tell a story of the spirit and nature of Pride and what it has come to mean both locally and internationally," says photographer and creative Lenore Chinn, one of the exhibit's co-curators. "With the rise of gay power and an expanding movement, we saw more participation and more diversity along with gender and ethnic lines."
No matter how Pride changes from year to year, the message remains the same: inclusivity, acceptance, and love. Take a look back at some rainbow moments throughout the years.
(Courtesy of SFPL)
A crowd of people at the reflecting pool at Civic Center during Gay Freedom Day in 1974. After this, both North Baker Beach and Marshall Beach were legally designated as clothing optional.
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(Courtesy of SFPL)
A gaggle of drag queens leaning and posing on red car during SF Gay Freedom Day — which was subjected around United for Freedom, Diversity is our Strength — circa June of 1976.
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(Courtesy of SFPL)
A country man we can all get behind who marched in Gay Freedom Day SF in 1977.
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(Courtesy of SFPL)
Scott Smith with Castro Camera display walking in Gay Freedom Day parade in 1976.
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(Courtesy of SFPL)
Dykes on Bikes, at the International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade, 1981. Since the inception of Dykes on Bikes in 1976, lesbian riders have been a highlight of SF Pride.
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(Courtesy of SFPL)
1977's San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade on Market Street, with parade partakers holding signs of Facists and Anita Bryant. The theme that year? "Gay Frontiers: Past, Present, Future."
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(Courtesy of Pinterest)
PDA in full, crotch-grabbing-swing during International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade at Civic Center in 1986.
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(Courtesy of SFPL)
Adrienne Fuzee, curator for the San Francisco Arts Commission, and Barbara during Gay Pride Parade at Civic Center in 1986
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(Courtesy of GLBT Historical Society via Saul Bloomberg and Sandra Hoover Photography)
Taken on a rooftop overlook The Castro in 1989 during that year's SF Pride Parade, which marked the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.
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(Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
A few of the many creatively worded signages that bobbed up and down the During International Lesbian and Gay Freedom Day Parade in 1993. And yes: Napa Vally is full of fruits.
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(Courtesy of SFPL)
San Francisco General Hospital AIDS Ward staff marching down Market Street for International Lesbian and Gay Freedom Day Parade in 1988, right at the hieght of the AIDS crisis.
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(Courtesy of SFPL)
A group of women on stilts celebrating SF Gay Pride at the Civic Center, sometime either in 2001 or 2002.
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(Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
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(Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
Carnaval-inspired float, well, floating down Market Street during the 2005 Pride Parade.
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(Courtesy of SFPL)
A group of costumed entertainers —lead by none other than a corseted drag queen, embellished with a large, sewn lip across her nether regions — performing a number during SF Pride in 2007.
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(Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus (SFGMC) riding the "USS Metaphor" during the 2008 Pride Parade.
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(Courtesy of GLBT Historical Society via Daniel Nicoletta)
John Lews and Stuart Gaffney standing for marriage equality while marching (riding?) in 2012's SF Pride, having tied the know in California back in 2008.
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(Courtesy of GLBT Historical Society, via Lenore Chinn)
After 2016's election, the following year's theme couldn't have been more timely: "Rise, Resist, Unite."
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(Courtesy of GLBT Hisotrical Society via Jane Philomen Cleland)
Michael Johnstone and his partner David Faulk — as Mrs. Vera of Verasphere; she was the the Community Grand Marshal for 2017's SF Pride parade.
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(Courtesy of @sreermn)
In 2019, many parade-goers took the opportunity to show their support for Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay candidate to launch a major United States presidential campaign.
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Find more coverage of San Francisco Pride at 7x7.com/lgbtq-pride.
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