June 23, 2004

Pride American Style

In honor of Gay Pride month, I have a trivia question. What city just hosted the world’s largest gay pride parade? Answer: Sao Paulo. The event on June 13 drew an estimated 1.1 million screaming, er, Brazilians. Parabens, Sao Paulo. Muito legal.

This Sunday will mark the festivities of another great city: San Francisco. And significantly, the parade folks are taking great pains to include a group that has been conspicuously absent from the event in years past: African Americans. But according to this story, some black folks are still feeling the sting from prior exclusion.

    Sunday's parade will feature floats and more than a dozen booths dedicated to African American themes and issues. There will also be a street village called "The Soul of Pride Village" on McAllister Street, between Hyde and Leavenworth streets, where eight black contingents will march together.

    It's all part of an effort by parade officials to include more members of the black lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in an event that celebrates unity. This outreach comes at a time when complaints have been raised about blacks being discriminated against at nightclubs in San Francisco's Castro district.

    Zwazzi Sowo, a member of the pride committee, agrees that the parade has excluded blacks in the past, prompting many to cross the bridge to the East Bay to hold separate pride activities. But she said this year's event is making a concerted effort to reach out to different communities.

    "For me, as an African American woman, it has been hard to come to Pride because there aren't any reflections of me there," said Sowo, 50. "It's been painful." In past parades, Sowo often ended up leaving early out of frustration because they failed to reflect African Americans. It's only right, she said, that San Francisco's parade be inclusive. "It belongs to us also," said Sowo. "It should look like a rainbow there."

In case you’re in town, July 4th weekend marks Los Angeles 16th annual Black Pride weekend. The name: Gods and Goddesses.

Posted by dmorse at June 23, 2004 04:54 PM