Many of us still walk with one eye over our shoulder. The distance between our hand and the hand of the person we love can seem impossibly far when we walk in spaces where fear owns us more than love. The closets we carry on our backs while hiding within them at work, school, and at the dinner table can seem too heavy to bear.
That is why we still have Pride. That is why we are here. If even for one week, weekend, day, or liberating hour you dare to let your love indulge in daylight. You can breathe in decadent joy, and breathe out the weight of societal expectation. During Pride we allow ourselves the peace of unwringing the calloused hands of our movement and simply celebrate. Claim for yourself the feeling of freedom as the San Diego sunshine bounces off your skin as you hold tightly to the ones you love, our unbound voices calling out for justice or cheering on our found family. At Pride we all have a uniquely beautiful opportunity to lay down our differences and lift up our diversity. We cast aside the shackles of shame and unapologetically embrace the ability to be radically authentic to ourselves.
Pride is wherever you are, and however you choose to celebrate it.
This time is for you. Be brave. Be bold.
Whether you’ve been with us since the beginning, or if this is your first; welcome to Pride. Welcome home.
Persist with Pride,
Fernando Z. López
Executive Director
San Diego Pride
Fernando Lopez is the Executive Director of San Diego Pride. Lopez’s years of LGBT advocacy, nonprofit management, public education, diversity consulting, media relations, guest lectures, and organizing have made them a consistent presence ensuring the struggles of the LGBT community are ever visible.
