Oakland is gearing up for one of the later Prides of 2024 — the annual parade is set to kick off Sunday, September 8, preceding a festival featuring popular entertainers. This year's theme is "Rooted in Pride."
"Oakland Pride is more than just a festival; it's a celebration of our shared vision for a community where everyone belongs," Oakland Pride board President George Jeffery Smith III stated in a news release. "We invite you to join us in celebrating life, love, and the vibrant diversity that makes Oakland so special. Oakland Pride continues to be a beacon of positive change and inclusivity."
The parade will begin at 14th and Broadway at 11 a.m. and make its way to 20th and Broadway. It will be livestreamed on KGO-TV's website, according to the release.
One of this year's grand marshals is trans activist Jupiter Peraza, who is the manager of the statewide coalition for Openhouse and formerly worked for San Francisco's Transgender District. She stated to the B.A.R. that she's "incredibly honored."
"My story as an undocumented trans Latina who came to the Bay Area in search of community, freedom of expression, and prosperity resonates with so many in my community," stated Peraza, lives in San Francisco. "I dedicate this recognition to all my trans siblings — whomst brilliance, power, and authenticity reinvigorates me every single day."
In her remarks, Peraza also paid tribute to Ivory Nicole Smith, a former staff member for the trans district who died in San Francisco January 24, as the B.A.R. reported.
"I humbly recognize the privilege of representing the Bay Area's transgender communities — which I do with profound pride and joy — and I look forward to a future in which we continue to push for liberation, access and equity in healthcare, employment, and housing, and the continued protection of civil rights for the transgender community across the country," Peraza stated. "Above all, I celebrate this honor in loving memory of my trans sister who is missed dearly, Ivory Nicole Smith. Keep on guiding us, beautiful."
Festival entertainment
After the parade the festival in downtown Oakland will feature Da Brat, the first female rapper to exceed over one million records sold with 1994's "Funkdafied."
The festival will also feature Wendy Guevara, a trans woman who won Mexico's "Celebrity Big Brother," on the Latin stage. Guevara will be joined by former "RuPaul's Drag Race" contestant Jessica Wild.
Valentino Carrillo, a gay man who is proprietor of Que Rico nightclub, located at 381 15th Street, is co-producing the Latin Stage with Club Papi.
"We've pretty much been working on getting (Guevara) to come since January of this year, and we were finally able to get her to commit to it in early April, and we got Pride to bring her on and sign her at the end of June," Carrillo told the B.A.R. in a phone interview. "It was a big process. ... One of the biggest artists ever for Oakland Pride, to be sure."
Carrillo's bar — which, as the B.A.R. previously reported, has been robbed 10 times in recent years to the tune of over $100,000 — started recovering from the most recent break-in with an August 3 street party. For Oakland Pride, he's welcoming the community to come out yet again.
"We're going to be closing the street again," he said. "This'll be the first time for Pride, between Webster and Franklin on 15th [street], that'll be closed to traffic, and it'll be one big street party. We're calling it Pride After Dark. Music outside, DJs on Sunday night after Pride, starting around 5 o'clock until 10 p.m. outside, then inside till 2 a.m."
That event will cap a series of Pride events for Que Rico, including a morning drag brunch September 8. Carrillo also alerted the B.A.R. to a Pride weekend bar crawl that's kicking off September 7 at 4:45 p.m. at the Town Bar and Lounge, at 2001 Broadway.
The free bar crawl is a joint effort of all the LGBTQ bars in downtown Oakland, of which there's been significant turnover in recent years. Club 21 and Bench & Bar shuttered years ago; more recently, the Port Bar and Feelmore Social have closed.
After Town Bar, the crawl will make its way to Que Rico at 6 p.m., followed by Fluid 510, at 1544 Broadway, at 7:15 p.m. and concluding with the Summer Bar & Lounge at 526 Eighth Street at 8:30 p.m. Each location will be offering $5 drink specials to participants.
Fluid 510 is owned by former Port Bar owner Sean Sullivan, a gay man who'd also spearheaded Pridefest back in 2021, after Oakland Pride was abruptly canceled just weeks before it was supposed to happen.
The B.A.R. reported extensively at the time through emails sent to the paper that the Oakland Pride organization was in serious disarray.
In 2022 there were two events — the regular Oakland Pride on Labor Day weekend, followed by Pridefest Oakland the following weekend. Last year, as the B.A.R. reported, Pridefest and Oakland Pride joined forces. For next year, Pridefest is "looking at doing an event in June 2025," Sullivan said.
Fluid 510 is having "a very busy week," Sullivan added.
This includes the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club's Pride breakfast at 8 a.m. September 8, drag brunches at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.; a day party at 3 p.m. hosted by Nina Politan and Phoebe Cakes; and an after party at 8 p.m. with DJ Young Ella Baker and OakHella.
"There is so much going on at Fluid to make up for the loss of the Port Bar," he said. "It's been a challenging year for Oakland, but the LGBT community is always a leader in resilience and finding ways to celebrate, and I think we will prove that once again."
Visit Oakland's Pride Honors dinner will be held at Bardo Lounge & Supper Club on September 5 at 5:30 p.m. in Oakland's new Lakeshore LGBTQ Cultural District. Children's Fairyland will present a family Pride activity September 7 at 11 a.m., and there will be an Oakland Pride Brunch September 7 at 11 a.m. at Sobre Mesa at 1618 Franklin Street.
The other Oakland Pride grand marshals are trans activist Anita Thomas, the Royal Grand Ducal Council of Alameda & Contra Costa Counties, and the San Francisco Bay Times.
The parade is free. Admission to the Oakland Pride festival is $20. For more information, visit oaklandpride.org.
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