2006
After the turmoil of 2005, Pride had to tackle the tasks of recruiting new Board members, hiring a new Executive Director and planning the next year’s event. Eventually, Ron DeHarte, former Chief Operating Officer for the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, former Marketing Director for Pricemart International, and a former Pride volunteer himself, was hired to be the new Executive Director. DeHarte had to hit the ground running and tackle the task of producing the annual event.
Bouncing Back
In an effort to rekindle dwindling interest in the Friday night rally, Pride scheduled speakers who were of local, historical importance as well as those with national appeal. The speakers included Rev. Troy Perry, founding pastor of the San Diego Metropolitan Community Church and Bixi B. Craig, publisher of Lavender Lens. Out-of-town guest speakers included Juba Kalamka and GLAAD President Neil Giuliano.
The parade featured many of the usual assortment of floats and contingents as well as a new twist. In an effort to give the parade more visual appeal, the parade included giant helium parade balloons of the variety commonly seen in the Tournament of Roses Parade or the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. However, one catch was that, due to overhanging power lines and traffic lights, the balloons had to be kept low to the ground and they required a lot of work to manipulate.
At the festival, dance floors and beverage gardens were once again rearranged in order to accommodate a burgeoning festival attendance. Pride made an effort to appeal to the diverse interests of the community by adding additional entertainment venues, including the Lavender Lens stage, the Buzz magazine stage and an over-21 stage.
Meanwhile, the Jack FM stage (main stage) entertainment included two ‘80s flashbacks. Debbie Gibson headlined on Saturday and former “Mall Tour” girl Tiffany was the closing act on Sunday night.
Meanwhile, Outside the Festival…
Unknown to many of the celebrants inside the festival on Saturday night, homophobia was rearing its ugly head as three young men went on a gay bashing rampage near the festival grounds. Six men were attacked by the three attackers using baseball bats. One of the victims, after his attackers moved on to other targets, called 911 on his cell phone and followed his attackers before stopping to give aid to another one of the victims.
Most people didn’t hear about the attacks until the following day when they watched the news. Pride spokesman Frank Sabatini Jr. credits Police Chief William Lansdowne and Mayor Jerry Sanders for taking swift action. Sanders promised that the men would be prosecuted for hate crimes and Lansdowne made it a priority for department resources.
Within days, the three suspects, one of them a minor, were in custody. A fourth man was also arrested as an accomplice for his role in helping the men attempt to avoid arrest by changing their appearance. The three attackers and the accomplice initially pled not guilty, but as the physical, circumstantial and testimonial evidence mounted, all four men changed their pleas to guilty.