Now that the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence have decided not to produce the Pink Saturday party, the city needs to come up with a plan that ensures the safety of the thousands of revelers who are expected to congregate in the Castro the night before the Pride parade.
For years the Sisters have done an admirable job with what has increasingly become a no-win situation for them. Reports of violent incidents marred Pink Saturday for the last several years and the Sisters determined that the fundraising aspect of the event has diminished due to increasing costs. Last year was the final straw as one of the Sisters and his husband were brutally attacked.
Community meetings have not provided a path forward, so the Sisters last week voted overwhelmingly to end their involvement with the event.
Now, the city has an opportunity to develop a new festive street celebration (which may or may not be called Pink Saturday as the Sisters have registered that name). Between the thousands of women coming to the Castro at the end of the Dyke March and thousands more people already in the neighborhood, there will be an overflow crowd whether or not there is a party.
Here are our suggestions:
First, make it a ticketed event. Selling tickets (the proceeds can be given to charity or help cover costs) will at least decrease the amount of troublemakers and raise funds.
Second, post paid security at the entrance gates to search for weapons. It's sad that it has to come to this, but violence is commonplace at big events these days, whether they be gay or straight. That doesn't mean they need to be shut down; it does mean a higher level of scrutiny must be applied and bag searches are one way to address that. It has been done; it used to be routine in the 1980s on Halloween, and the police would later display all the weapons seized from people who at that time would come to the Castro to beat up gays.
Third, there needs to be a plan to manage the crowds with directed activities for attendees. At Pink Saturday 2009, run by the late Sister Barbie, there was a disco stage, and the footprint was more spread out along Market, giving people some breathing room. In recent years, everything has been concentrated along Castro Street, which can't accommodate crowds safely.
District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener has taken up the issue, and he will have to hustle to find a solution, given that there are only four months to plan a Saturday night street party. Our community leaders must come up with a plan to save the event. There are plenty of creative event planners who can pull something fun together, organize the dance areas and hire DJs. Pink Saturday is not like Halloween in that officials can't tell people not to go to the Castro the night before Pride. The bars can't possibly hold them all.
Plaza problems
In another issue challenging the Castro, the much-maligned Jane Warner Plaza will close later this month so that its design can be tweaked, following an outcry over anti-social behavior that has escalated since late December after it was rehabbed as part of the $6 million sidewalk-widening project. When the plaza reopened, it didn't take long for a few folks to ruin it for the rest of us. Specifically, as detailed at a recent community meeting, there is regular misuse of the space. Whether homeless or not, a few have spoiled the plaza with trash, unruly anti-social behavior, anti-gay name-calling, and an all-around aggressiveness that has made others wary or even afraid of using it.
We want to be clear, as has Wiener and Castro Community Benefit District Executive Director Andrea Aiello, that this isn't about placing blame on the homeless or scapegoating homeless queer youth. As Wiener himself noted at a recent community meeting on the topic, even some homeless people are afraid to hang out there because of the bad vibes emanating from those who are misbehaving.
We have a suggestion for this, too: replace the plants now in the planter with cactuses. Their prickly needles will keep people out, and they don't need water – a practical solution in the midst of the drought.
Physical changes to the area alone, however, won't solve the problem. The fact is that Jane Warner Plaza sits smack in the middle of Castro and Market streets, a prominent location for attention-seekers. In the past, it was ground zero for the silly nudists, who thought they could make a last stand for body freedom by taking it all off as Muni streetcars, autos, and passerby all gawked. They craved the attention.
Like with the aforementioned Pink Saturday, a key to improving behavior is activating the space, whether it be with free concerts, craft sessions, or games. When the majority of people come to participate in activities, there won't be the tolerance for the spoilers.