In 1969 the Stonewall Riots against legal police brutality towards our community inspired organizers in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles to hold “Christopher Street Liberation Day Marches” in 1970: the origins of Pride events as we know them today. As Pride events began to sprout up in more cities across the country and the world, they evolved into more than just marches — they became opportunities for us to make community connections while building political power.
Back when all Prides attempted to be on the same weekend in June, it limited our LGBTQ organizations’ abilities to be in every city, to build supporter lists, and to grow our organizations. Pride organizers began to talk about how we could better coordinate our events and in turn better serve our communities. In 1990 San Diego Pride was nearly rained out, so the decision was made to leave “June gloom” behind for the warmer and sunnier month of July.
With over 1000 Pride events happening all over the world, each taking on a distinctly local community flavor, finding LGBTQ community connections, resources, and organizations has become more accessible to more people. South Bay Pride, North County’s Pride by the Beach, Imperial Valley Pride, and Palm Springs Pride are right on our doorstep and happening soon. In our tight-knit Pride Family, San Diego Pride works to ensure that we support one another by sharing skilled volunteers, best practices, grant funding, marketing support, and more. I hope to see you soon at any one of our other regional Pride events as we all continue the tradition of making community connections while building political power.
Fernando Lopez was 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.
