For years local National Park Service staff, whether LGBTQs or straight allies, have marched as a contingent in the San Francisco Pride parade. Two years ago, they decided to host their own community event to kick off Pride Month in June.
Dubbed Pride in the Presidio, it was held in the former military base turned national park on the northern edge of San Francisco. Overseeing the festivities was the Partnership for the Presidio, comprised of the National Park Service, the Presidio Trust, and the nonprofit Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.
It also sparked the creation of the partnership’s first-ever Parks for All! collection of Pride-themed park gifts and collectibles that were for sale at the Presidio Visitor Center. Pride bunting adorned the building that now fronts the Tunnel Tops picnic and children’s play areas with stunning views of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Parks officials had noted that the late Gilbert Baker, the gay man who co-created the first Pride flags back in 1978, was a former Army medic stationed nearby in the Presidio in 1970. Two years later he would be honorably discharged in February 1972.
“Celebrating LGBTQIA+ Pride outdoors is one way we hope way to make public spaces welcoming for all people and communities. Thank you to everyone who came out, joined in, and shared their Pride in the parks!” noted the parks conservancy in a post Pride 2023 write up.
Alas, there will be no Presidio Pride event this June. It was noticeably missing from the “Summer at the Presidio” lineup of events the park released in early May.
Asked by the Bay Area Reporter about the status of the LGBTQ celebration, Presidio spokesperson Lisa Petrie confirmed it would not be taking place this year. The reason being the anti-LGBTQ executive orders signed by Republican President Donald Trump earlier this year that ended diversity programs at federal agencies.
“The Presidio Trust invites permit applications from any organization wishing to host an event in the park, including Pride. However, as a federal agency, the Trust would not be able to co-sponsor such an event this year due to the requirements of a recent executive order,” explained Petrie.
The legal team for the trust, which oversees the federal park site, cited two EOs signed by Trump for why it is prohibited from doing so. The first, titled “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government,” Trump signed on his first day back in the Oval Office January 20.
It effectively barred the federal government from acknowledging the existence of transgender individuals and restricted federal funds from being used “to promote gender ideology” and instructed “each agency shall assess grant conditions and grantee preferences and ensure grant funds do not promote gender ideology.”
The second Trump order cited by Presidio officials is titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination And Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” and was signed by Trump on January 21. It forbade federal agencies from engaging in diversity-based programs and initiatives, ordering them to “terminate all ‘diversity,’ ‘equity,’ ‘equitable decision-making,’ ‘equitable deployment of financial and technical assistance,’ ‘advancing equity,’ and like mandates, requirements, programs, or activities, as appropriate.”
While in years past the nonprofit parks conservancy group, led by lesbian President and CEO Christine Lehnertz, organized a number of events for LGBTQ parkgoers, in addition to co-hosting the Presidio Pride event, it has not publicized any taking place this month or next. A check Tuesday of its event page, when searched using the LGBTQ category, resulted in the message, “There are no events with that criteria at this time.”
Back in February it held a volunteer event called “Belonging in Nature: BIPOC Queer and Trans Community Day.” Participants received a tour of Hummingbird Farm in San Francisco, an urban agriculture program overseen by PODER!
Neither Lehnertz nor a spokesperson for the parks conservancy have responded to the B.A.R.’s requests for comment about its Pride plans this year.
Having been invited to the inaugural Presidio Pride event in 2023, at which he briefly addressed the attendees, gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) expressed disappointment at it not taking place this year. He learned about its cancellation when contacted by the B.A.R. for his reaction.
“Trump and his cult are determined to eliminate LGBTQ people from public life – to make us disappear. That’s why they’re systematically eliminating Pride celebrations and bullying others to ban Pride. But we’re not going anywhere,” declared Wiener in a texted reply. “It’s awful that the Presidio is ending its Pride celebration, but we’ll just celebrate harder during San Francisco Pride to make up for it. And once we scrape Trump out of office and take back our country, we will have Pride at the Presidio again.”
The San Francisco chapter of PFLAG, the organization for LGBTQ families, had been a featured community partner at last year’s Presidio Pride event. Board president Robert Costic, a gay married attorney in San Francisco, told the B.A.R. anyone looking for a way to celebrate Pride this June can join the chapter’s contingent in the city’s parade on June 29. (Sign up info can be found here.)
“The Presidio won’t be hosting a Pride event this year due to changes in federal funding. While disappointing, it only strengthens our resolve,” noted Costic. “We’re grateful to everyone who made last year’s Presidio Pride possible. It was a joyful, affirming day – one that brought families, allies, and LGBTQ+ people together in one of our city’s most iconic public spaces.”
But Pride isn’t about one location, added Costic, stressing it has more to do with community, visibility, and enduring love.
“This year we will be showing up loud and proud at our San Francisco Pride parade and we welcome each and every member of our community, our families, our friends and our allies to join us,” he stated. “PFLAG San Francisco has always been here to support, resist, and thrive in the face of adversity. We invite you to be out, loud and visible with us.”
The San Francisco Public Library’s James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center also had been invited to take part in last year’s Pride in the Presidio. It had set up a table with queer books, reading nooks for people to enjoy, and brought library giveaways to hand out.
“I've been informed by the organizers that it was canceled, which is unfortunate. I do not know why,” Cristina Mitra, the Hormel Center's program manager, told the B.A.R. in response to an inquiry on if it had been contacted about returning to the event this year.
The Hormel center and the San Francisco Public Library are hosting two special events to celebrate Pride Month in June. The first is being presented in partnership with Oakland’s Sistah Scifi, the first Black-owned bookstore focused on science fiction and fantasy in the U.S., and will highlight the legacy of the late Black queer science fiction author Octavia E. Butler.
Called “A Teenage Superhero: Celebrating Octavia E. Butler’s Lauren Oya Olamina,” it will feature a panel discussion about Butler’s work, her teenage protagonist Olamina of “Parable of the Sower,” and how to inspire young people to follow in her literary footsteps. Moderating it will be 16-year-old East Bay author Aida Ndiaye, whose titles include “The Imagination Book” and “Evil Burrito and the FBI.”
The free event will take place at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 10, at the Hormel Center on the third floor of the Main Library at 100 Larkin Street and will also be livestreamed online. For more information and to RSVP, click here.
And the Hormel center’s TV talk show inspired Booked & Beautiful series will feature Tito Soto, founder of the weekly drag spectacular "PRINCESS” at Oasis Nightclub on Saturday nights, for its third episode. Hosted by artist and performer SNJV, crowned Mr. GAPA in 2019, it will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 24, in the Main Library’s lower level Koret Auditorium.
As for the parks conservancy, it still has a page with information about the LGBTQ history of various Golden Gate National Recreation Area park sites. While the nonprofit still uses the T for transgender on the webpages it directly oversees, when clicking on the links it lists to websites managed by the National Park Service visitors will find the T has been scrubbed. It is due to Trump’s executive orders attacking “gender ideology.”
The parks conservancy will be hosting its third annual Parks4All: Brewfest on July 19. As noted on the event page to buy tickets, it is a benefit for the nonprofit’s inclusive programs, “which connect people of all backgrounds to the wonders of the Golden Gate national parks.”
It continues to sell “Parks for All!” branded Park Pride merchandise online. The current design utilizes the colors of the trans and people of color inclusive Progress Pride flag in a more subtle way for the text and tree figures adorning the various products, from apparel to keychains.
A note proclaims, “Your purchase helps make parks more inclusive and accessible for all. The Parks Conservancy breaks down barriers so diverse communities can connect with nature, history, and each other. Shop today to support parks where everyone belongs.”
In terms of park staff participating in this year’s Pride parade, it is unclear if they will be allowed to do so in uniform, as in years past. In 2024, after NBC News reported a memo had been sent to park rangers stating they could not march in uniform, the resulting public backlash resulted in then-Interior Secretary Deb Haaland issuing a second memo effectively stating uniformed park rangers could participate in Pride parades last year.
With the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, now led by Trump appointee Doug Burgum, it remains to be seen if that policy will be upheld this June. To date, Pride Month is still listed as one of the “Special Emphasis Observances” recognized by the federal agency per the webpage. .
An Interior spokesperson did not respond to the B.A.R.’s inquiry on what the current policy is for Pride parade participation by park staff. The Presidio Trust’s Petrie referred the B.A.R. to spokespeople for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, who have yet to say if local national park staff will again be making an appearance in this year’s San Francisco Pride parade.
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