The National Center for Lesbian Rights will hold its second annual Pride in the Park celebration Saturday, June 3, from 3 to 7 p.m. at the National AIDS Memorial Grove in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.
The event is designed to highlight the joy and beauty of the LGBTQ community and is a family-friendly celebration with entertainment, food and beverages, and activities, organizers stated in a news release.
"At a time when we are seeing historic and unprecedented attacks on the rights of the LGBTQ community and our families, it is important to be reminded that not only will we fight for our community, we will also celebrate our community," stated NCLR Executive Director Imani Rupert-Gordon, a Black queer woman who recently marked her third year leading the public interest legal nonprofit.
Tickets are $100 and can be purchased at nclrights.org/event/pride-in-the-park. The AIDS grove is located at Nancy Pelosi Drive and Bowling Green Drive.
'Drag Me Downtown' events in June
Downtown SF Partnership, the community benefit district that oversees 43 blocks across San Francisco's Financial District and Jackson Square Historic District, is kicking off Pride Month with celebrations every Thursday in June with "Drag Me Downtown," a series of pop-up performances featuring some of San Francisco drag's biggest names, a news release stated. The sequin-studded series will feature new performers at different downtown restaurants and bars each week in an effort to provide direct support to local businesses, shine a light on the city's LGBTQIA+ community, and drive a diverse range of economic activity to the area, the release stated.
All of the pop-up events run from 5 to 7 p.m. The pop-ups will kick off June 1 at Schroeder's, 240 Front Street. The rest of the schedule is: June 8 at Latin Steakhouse, 56 Belden Place; June 15 at Nigella, 388 Market Street, Suite 105; June 22 at One Market Restaurant, 1 Market Street; and June 29 at Pagan Idol, 375 Bush Street.
Featured performers will include Bionka Simone, Bobby Friday, Coco Buttah, Dulce De Leche, Helixer Jynder Byntwell, Jota Mercury, Madd Dogg 20/20, Mary Vice, MGM Grande, Nicki Jizz, Rahni NothingMore, Vera, and Voodonna Black, according to the release.
Drag Me Downtown is free to attend, however, pre-registered attendees are guaranteed to receive a free fan and feather boa, according to the release. All pre-registration proceeds benefit Trans Thrive, a trans-centric nonprofit that works to create safe spaces, events, and services for the trans and gender-nonconforming community.
To register or for more information, go to downtownsf.org/do/drag-me-downtown.
Hayward to raise Pride flag
The East Bay city of Hayward will raise the Pride flag Thursday, June 1, during a ceremony at noon at City Hall Plaza. The flag will fly for the entirety of Pride Month, according to information from the city that Alameda County Supervisor Elisa Márquez included in her recent newsletter. Márquez, who was appointed to the county board last month, is a former Hayward City councilmember.
In addition, the Hayward City Council will issue a proclamation Tuesday, June 6, designating June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Queer, Intersex, 2-Spirit and Gender Non-Conforming Pride Month in the city.
Hayward City Hall is located at 777 B Street, near the Hayward BART Station.
ALRP history panel
The AIDS Legal Referral Panel is marking 40 years of service this year and, as part of the commemoration, the organization will hold a special panel on the history of the organization and the attorneys who helped start it.
The free event, which is open to the public, takes place Wednesday, June 7, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the law offices of Morrison & Foerster, 425 Market Street in San Francisco.
According to a flyer promoting the event, 40 years ago a handful of attorneys at Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom drew up a short list of their colleagues who could quickly get to hospitals and draft wills for people who were dying of AIDS. That list grew into ALRP, which continues to serve people living with HIV/AIDS through its staff and donated legal services from attorneys.
Panelists will include Mark Senick, Carol Wolf, and Frederick Hertz. They will be joined by moderators Shawn Matloob and Cassandra Frias.
To RSVP, contact [email protected]
SF library Pride events
The San Francisco Public Library, home to the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, is celebrating Pride with free programs for all ages and an exhibit featuring poetry and art from 16 Black, Indigenous, and people of color trans and gender-nonconforming Bay Area artists.
According to a news release, the Hormel center and main library will offer programs that center queer creativity.
"When you include the library as part of your Pride celebrations, you embrace San Francisco's rich shared queer history while simultaneously strengthening our community, affirming our values as a city and nurturing the creators that are writing today's queer stories," stated Cristina Mitra, program manager at the Hormel center. "Pride at the library has something for everyone."
Art-making programs include a queer collage workshop led by artist Terrance Graven on Sunday, June 4, and a retro zine workshop, Zinething, presented in partnership with Zinefest on Tuesday, June 20. On Sunday, June 18, Louis Niebur, author of "Menergy: San Francisco's Gay Disco Sound," goes back in time to rediscover the Castro-born sounds of "high-energy" dance music.
The release noted that on view through June 29 will be "I Still Love You: Queerness, Ancestors, and the Places that Made Us," an exhibit that features original poetry, artwork, and historical works from the Hormel center collection, some never exhibited to the public. Co-curated by local queer women of color artists Tina Bartolome and Natalia M. Vigil, the exhibit includes works by Amalia Macias-Laventure, Izaac Limón, J. Torres, and several others.
For families, there are Pride-themed storytimes, and arts and crafts activities such as a rainbow sun catcher workshop at the Western Addition branch on Wednesday, June 7; Pride flag-making at the Visitacion Valley branch on Wednesday, June 21, and a Pride bracelet class Saturday, June 24, at the Merced branch.
The Harvey Milk/Eureka Valley branch in the Castro LGBTQ neighborhood will host its annual open house Saturday, June 10. It will include music by J.D. Limelight, drag story hour with Panda Dulce, and a free book giveaway, among other activities.
On Wednesday, June 28, the Excelsior branch will hold a family dance party where patrons of all ages are encouraged to don rainbow colors and dance to a Pride-themed playlist.
Other events include film screenings and an LGBTQIA book swap.
For more information, visit sfpl.org.
Sunday Streets in the Tenderloin
Sunday Streets, San Francisco's community-powered open streets program, is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year and will hold its next iteration of the popular event in the Tenderloin Sunday, June 4.
"We're thrilled to celebrate this milestone year with our neighbors and partners who have loved coming out to Sunday Streets throughout the years," stated Darin Ow-Wing, executive director of Livable City, home to the program since its inception in 2008. "We're proud of our collective impact on building more connected and vibrant communities.
Sunday Streets empowers local communities to transform miles of streets into car-free spaces filled with cultural programming, free health resources, local vendors, and recreational opportunities for all ages, a news release noted. The program is supported by the city, including the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency as presenting agency sponsor, the release stated.
Sunday Streets takes place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free and the events are open to the public.
Upcoming Sunday Streets are in the Mission/Valencia July 30, Western Addition September 24, and the Excelsior October 15.
For more information, visit sundaystreetssf.com.
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