Tens of thousands of people. Hundreds of same-sex married couples. One-hundred-ninety-one floats. One cause.

Amidst men in leather thongs and newlyweds in bridal dresses, eager spectators perched themselves on poles and ridges to cheer San Francisco’s 34th annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Parade, which capped a weekend of festivities.

The parade on Sunday, June 27 attracted hundreds of married couples that marched down Market Street flaunting enlarged copies of their marriage certificates and signs thanking Mayor Gavin Newsom for legalizing their unions.
One sign read, “My moms are legally married thanks to Mayor Newsom!” Others read “Just-ly married,” “Sweetie, grab the kids and come to City Hall,” “We all deserve the freedom to marry” and “We love each other/We’re human beings/We’re married.”

Observers who have attended the parade regularly noted that this year’s spectacle was more energized than previous years due to new controversial issues.

Same-sex marriage emerged as a triumphant theme at the parade this summer after a year in which the LGBT community endured several blows in its struggle for equality --- including a mistrial in the case of three men accused of slaying transgender teen Gwen Araujo, and governmental efforts to make same-sex marriage unconstitutional.

“They’re representing love,” said Summer Irvin, 23. “It’s retarded that [the government) is trying to stop something universal. There are other things, like the war, that they should worry about.”

Clark Marshall, 36, said the parade is a great example of the camaraderie among people of different communities and an expression of freedom and rights.

“It’s 2004 and the discrimination we face as a community is unconstitutional,” Marshall said. “It’s about equality. We deserve it and we demand it.”
Marshall, who has gone to the parade for the past 15 years, came with a big group of friends to celebrate gay rights.

Along with the debate over the legalization of same-sex marriage, the parade this year addressed acceptance within the LGBT community itself, which has been an issue especially for African-Americans.

Bob Mathis-Friedman, a gay African-American, noticed an increase in the number of the African-Americans participating in the event. He says that it is important for the gay community to unite to get laws passed federally.

“Locally, we are making strides, but not federally,” Mathis-Friedman said. “To do that, we have to build alliances.”

To Sean Jones, 27, LGBT people have to deal with discrimination at many levels and the parade takes people away from that.

“Going to this parade makes me feel proud that I’m part of a diverse community,” he said. “Essentially, this is a family.”

Jones said that these types of events come out of a lot of pain and oppression and ultimately, they unite people as a whole.

“This country is diverse and we need to celebrate that,” said Jones. “We’ve come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.”

BAMMA is a summer journalism camp for high school students coordinated by the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism through the journalism department at SF State. For more information or comments on BAMMA, please contact Cristina Azocar.