At the Stonewall Riots, our community unleashed our strength, fought back against societal and institutional violence, and then continued honoring that moment year after year, building a global movement on that rebellious foundation. Our Pride Family honors those origins by operating as a conduit for community collaboration locally, nationally, and globally through several coalition and capacity building programs.
In 2017, the U. S. Consulate in Tijuana, Mexico marched in San Diego Pride for the first time, and then asked if we could convene a meeting to address how we could all better support the LGBTQ community in Tijuana. The first Orgullo Sin Fronteras conference was born out of a binational coalition of organizations and individuals from San Diego Pride, the ACLU, The Center,Councilmember Georgette Gómez’s office, and the U.S. Consulate. While our goal in our first year was to get 40 – 60 people to attend, 223 people came together for this binational LGBTQ leadership development and capacity-building opportunity.
We may be two cities in two nations, but we are one, global LGBTQ community. Some may wish to focus on building walls, but we at Pride are looking to build upon our queer brilliance through international, intersectional, intergenerational mentorship. Our San Diego LGBTQ community has a long history of working with and supporting our siblings south of the border, and we hope to strengthen those bonds and supportive relationships. Join us at this year’s Orgullo Sin Fronterasas we continue to build on our Legacy of Liberation.
Esta conferencia se llevará a cabo en español.
P.S. Other upcoming educational opportunities:
#MeTooLGBTQ Conference
Pride Youth Leadership Academy
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.
