LGBTQ officers broke barriers
I have an issue with SF Pride not letting San Francisco Police Department LGBTQ officers wear their uniforms while marching as a contingent in the parade. These are LGBTQ officers who are not only gay but have consciously chosen their profession as a SFPD officer. We, as a community, have fought for decades to be able to be open and proud within departments of government like the police, firefighters, sheriffs, and other government agencies as well as elected officials. To disrespect these groundbreaking folks who have broken barriers in the name of the LGBTQ community is just not right. I stand with Mayor London Breed and all those who will boycott this move. Our LGBTQ officers are not the people who are committing violence against our community or sister communities of color and other ethnicities, and to punish them in this way is reprehensible.
Audrey Joseph
San Francisco/Palm Springs, California
Shame on SF Pride board's decision
I'm 84 years old. I have marched in, walked with, or watched every Pride parade in San Francisco. I also walked down Polk Street with the earliest gay parade back in the early 1970s. If the parade organizers don't reverse their prejudicial decision not to allow police officers to walk in uniform, then I will have nothing to do with the LGBTQ parade this year. Shame on your decision. You insult my city, our many fine police officers, and the concept of acceptance. I thought we had evolved but now I am embarrassed to be a gay man.
Dick Allen
San Francisco
[Editor's note: As the Bay Area Reporter reported online last week and in Thursday's issue, a compromise has been reached between San Francisco Pride and the San Francisco Police Officers Pride Alliance that will see first responders march in the parade.]
Not a fan of Progress flag
I do not wish to disparage Daniel Quasar's attempt to make a Pride flag that seems more inclusive, but to call it "Progress" is the height of hubris. Quasar has taken a specific rainbow flag and turned it into a very confusing, "skin-color"-reflecting flag, though I cannot discern what people are green, red, yellow, purple, or blue.
To me, it seems they are erasing Gilbert Baker's intention and substituting their own intention, whatever that may be. Why replace Baker's flag just because they missed Baker's reasoning? It wasn't meant to display skin colors.
I do not object to a skin-color-based Pride flag, but to call it "progress" derides Baker's art, and suggests their Pride flag deserves precedence.
This seems the epitome of cancel culture in sheep's clothing: not progressive, but regressive.
Baker does not deserve what Quasar has done to him: they have tried to make his flag irrelevant and passé.
David Starkovich
San Francisco
A Milkshake for Pride
The Harvey Milkshake cocktail created by One Market Street restaurant to celebrate Pride is fabulous. It features homemade vanilla ice cream, vodka from Latvia (not Russia), creme de cacao, and prickly pear purée. I tried it and will return for seconds. Fifty percent of shake proceeds go to PFLAG San Francisco, a worthy LGBTQ group. Don't miss this drink. I have no connection with the restaurant except as a satisfied customer.
Jay Lyon
San Francisco
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