By Morgan M. Hurley and Benny Cartwright
Because it is the 50th anniversary of San Diego Pride, we ventured out and asked people to ponder the question, “What is your fondest memory of San Diego Pride?” We asked a few others, “What does Pride mean to you?” Here are the answers, in alphabetical order. Thanks to all who participated!
What is your fondest memory of San Diego Pride?
Alex Aldaco
Banker
One of my most cherished memories from San Diego Pride is the time my best friend Chelcei and I volunteered together on the Festival Guest Relations team as part of Volunteer With Cheli. Working as a pair, we dedicated ourselves to ensuring everyone’s safety and enhancing their experience at the festival. It makes my heart so happy to give back to the community in such a meaningful way. I truly enjoy spending quality time with close friends and making new connections during San Diego Pride weekend and any other time – I really am a free spirit with a big heart!
Tanja Alvis
Ms. GSGRA (Golden State Gay Rodeo Assn) 2024
Last year, my friend Dominique came to her first Pride celebration. I had to work hard to get her there as she was nervous. I talked to her on the phone throughout her Uber ride, to get her up to the rainbow balloons at the front of the festival gates.
After that experience, she is now becoming her true, authentic self. I always believe in “see one, do one, teach one, lead one” and this memory will always stand out to me!
Chris Barone
Bar Management
I’ve never experienced Pride except working at Baja Betty’s. I moved here in October 2003 and we opened Betty’s in April 2004. So, while I don’t think it’s probably appropriate to say (in print), my fondest memory is every Sunday of Pride weekend @ 4:00 when I punch out!
Emily Beitler
Retired Postal Servant
My fondest memory has to be riding side-by-side with my BFF Coyote Moon on our motorcycles at the front of the women’s motorcycle contingent leading the parade. (She passed away last year the week leading up to Pride.)
Esteban Duarte
Founder, VIDA
Being honored as San Diego Pride’s Volunteer of the Year in 2008! I have always loved volunteering for San Diego Pride and being able to be recognized for the hard work I put in, that year meant a lot to me.
Sister Iona Dubble-Wyde
Community Activist
My favorite Pride memory is really the years of being someone’s memory. Encountering the Los Angeles Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence at my first Pride inspired me to be more active and I like to believe that I’ve inspired others.
Vanessa Dubois
Photographer
My favorite San Diego Pride memory as a photographer has to be when we were told that Kesha wanted no photographers during her performance, but I got to be the only one in the pit.
I thought she would stay away from me, but instead she came right in front of me and I got one of my ultimate favorite photos ever!
Brent Foster
Personal Trainer
My favorite Pride memory comes from this photo, taken in 2019. I walked the parade route four times!
Moe Girton
Restaurant/bar owner
Probably the year it dumped down rain. It didn’t affect anyone’s mood or stop them from coming to Pride. Everybody just embraced the rain, kept a smile on their face and had a gay ol’ time.
That year was wild. We were handing out umbrellas from lost and found, and set up pop-up tents to keep them dry, but nobody cared. Everybody was just celebrating Pride. Shows the tenacity of our community and the need for Pride.
John Greenwell
Educator
My favorite San Diego Pride memory is when Ke$ha performed at the San Diego Pride Festival in 2016. It was just such a positive vibe and people were so kind while watching the concert.
Sally Hall
Entrepreneur
Ohhhh, easy one! When Melissa Etheridge headlined.
It is cliché, though, I love that Pride celebrations bring new and old friends together, at max capacity. The energy is a rush, and the observance of everyone’s Pride is as fancy as a unicorn blowing bubbles filled with glitter.
William Rodriguez Kennedy
USMC veteran, Public Servant
My fondest memory of Pride would have to be the 2011 Military Contingent. As a Marine veteran, discharged (honorably but involuntarily) during Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, I struggled the few years after. That moment when we turned the corner and the crowd erupted in thunderous applause. I’ll never forget it. It was one of the most meaningful days of my life.
Marwan Khaleel
Realtor
My favorite Pride memory was the first time I attended the San Diego Pride Parade. It was 2018 and I finally felt a little comfortable with my sexuality and started to accept myself the way I am.
I started joining the parade crowd by holding our famous LGBTQ+ flag at the end of the parade. It was such an emotional moment I couldn’t hold back my tears, it felt so amazing to be surrounded by so many amazing people and also remembering my queer friends back home (in Iraq). It was definitely a moment of joy that I won’t forget.
Sister Ida Know
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
One of my fondest memories of Pride is when my daughter “JJ” attended her first Pride here in San Diego. As a close knit family, she has a niece (my granddaughter), who attends Pride with her girlfriend and on this occasion invited JJ to the parade. My guess is that she saw Pride as “Gay Halloween” and wanted to wear something fun. So, it was a borrowed Cat Woman (or Bat Girl) costume that she attended Pride in.
Where my fond memory of this ties in was at the festival. Of course since it was Pride, I was out in the world as a Sister. I was told to find them in one of the beer gardens and I found the trio dancing with an array of people, all enjoying the joy of just being and dancing. After all the hugs and hellos, my wonderful daughter, who had been dancing with some random girl, told me she had been asked what kind of girl she was into.
As proud as many of us in the community are for how we represent our part of the LGBTQ, my daughter is just as proud of who she is. She, like myself, loves people for who we are in life. Having the family that I raised to now be at Pride, was a special moment for me. JJ only knew me as Dad. She had never seen me as my inner spirit, Sister Ida. She plays a huge part of my own “coming out to family” story. But that is for another message.
Joe Martinez
Bartender, retired
I’ve always worked Pride weekend for over 40 years. It was always hard work to set up and get places ready for the crowds to have fun. Everyone was in a happy and joyful mood and full of smiles and pride.
So this year I will enjoy Pride more than ever, because I’m retired and will be able to participate in Pride 2024.
Jerry McCormick
Journalism Professor
San Diego Pride has always been special to me. But in 2002, it became more special after me and the man who would later become my husband went on one of our early dates to the parade. It was the first time I held a man’s hand in public and felt safe. He’s always made me feel this way and this month we celebrate 22 years together and I love him more than the day we met.
Walter G. Meyer
Author, Adventurer
My favorite Pride celebrations were the ones that made me feel the freedom of coming out and accepting that I was gay and I was among people who would accept me for who I am.
And a great reminder of that feeling was the year of the deluge.
In 2015, I, along with thousands of others, walked in the parade as the
sky rained upon us as though we were walking through a car wash. The water poured relentlessly from the sky and all we could do was laugh about how drenched we were getting.
I shared that Pride parade via Facetime with a friend in Algeria. Growing up in a small town in that country where being openly gay was out of the question, he had never been to a Pride parade or any gay event.
Through my phone, he was able to observe the party atmosphere, which the rain made even more fun. He could marvel at the crowds and cheering, sopping wet rainbow flags everywhere.
Along the parade route, whenever I encountered a friend, I told them what I was doing and asked them to say “Hi” to my Algerian friend, and offer some words of encouragement to a young gay guy who wanted to vicariously experience his first Pride. Seeing his joy reminded me of my own joyous memories and that for those of us who struggled to come out, Pride gave us hope of a better tomorrow.
As LGBTQ+ rights are under threat across the US and the world, Pride is still necessary to give us hope that there is a rainbow after the rain.
Manuel Parcero
Former chef, Customer Service
I think it was in 1992 and I kind of remember that it was the San Diego Lesbian and Gay parade, maybe it wasn’t called Pride parade yet, but I’m not sure about that.
It was already a big event then, and I went with a group of my friends with HIV. They were brave enough to make themselves visible in the parade, and I pushed one of my best friends who was dying of AIDS in his wheelchair, and some people looked at us as if he was a martian, and he kept smiling and saying “Hi” to everybody.
Lots of people said “Hi” back to him, and that fulfilled my heart with love, because no matter that there were some people who rejected people with AIDS in those days, there were a large number of people in the LGBT community who were very accepting, loving and cheerful, and that is my fondest memory of San Diego Pride.
Big Mike Phillips
Bartender, activist, fundraiser
As a 67-year-old man watching Pride develop over these many years to what it has become, especially in San Diego, is beyond mind-boggling.
I think my fondest was the year that I had the honor to share being Grand Marshal with Ben Dillingham in 2005. I’ve never been in a parade in my life, and that was the first time and the last time I’ve ever been in a parade, I had to pinch myself.
It was one of the most incredible days that I’ve ever experienced, having people that you know in the community yelling and saying “I love you” and congratulations and just showing appreciation meant everything to me.
Pride has a lot of history. I just hope people take the time to learn that history so they can appreciate their Pride like I did mine. Know that it isn’t just a party, it is saying we are all equal and we all deserve the right to love whom we choose. Play safe, show respect, and give those that you love a big hug. Happy Pride everyone.
Brandon Potter
Comedian, Customer Service
I have attended Pride gatherings at least once a year, every year, for half of my life. My first Pride was when I was 18 (you do the math) in Washington D.C. I had to drive an hour and a half from where I lived with only directions I printed out at home since GPS and smart phones weren’t common yet. I went by myself and nobody knew where I was going. I was so nervous, but once I arrived, I’ll never forget the emotions I felt after seeing so many LGBTQIA+ people in the same place, in the daylight, unashamed of who they are. It was the first time in my life I truly felt connected to others and unashamed of who I was and still am. Every year at San Diego Pride I experience the same emotions that I first felt at my very first Pride and I’m reminded why it’s still so important today.
RD Riccoboni
Artist Extraordinaire
The first time I saw San Diego’s huge pride flag coming down University Avenue in Hillcrest, it brought back so many memories of other Pride celebrations, how far we’ve all come, and a special journey I took in 1994. A group of friends from California got together and flew to New York City for Pride and Stonewall 25 and the Gay Games. It was a tribute for us and we all packed photos of friends we had lost to AIDS and brought them along so they could March with us.
Then it all came together. Seeing the mile long Rainbow Flag unfurling on Second Ave in Manhattan then marching with them into Central Park as Liza Minelli was on the main stage singing “Somewhere Over The Rainbow,” her mother’s signature song. I mean, how gay was that … someone pinch me!
I still tear up when I think about that day. Being an artist, I painted the experience that my friends and I shared which came out in a book called Rainbow Nation in 1996. You can see the signature painting from that day “Rainbow River on 2nd Avenue” exhibited in my space at the Studio Door gallery in Hillcrest.
Preston Sunderson
Kiwanis Club member
In 2009, for the first time in my life, I discovered the magical world of San Diego Pride – and also learned that sunscreen is not optional. Picture this: I had just moved to San Diego and found myself at the Pride parade, surrounded by more rainbow-colored outfits than a unicorn’s wardrobe.
Now, I had never stood in the heat for so long before. I mean, seriously, I was sweating more than a snowman in a sauna. But it was worth it because at the end of the parade, the pièce de résistance made its grand entrance – the BIG pride flag. This thing was so huge it could’ve doubled as a circus tent for a family of elephants. My friends and I jumped at the chance to help carry it down to Balboa Park. And let me tell you, I felt like I was floating on a cloud of glitter and good vibes. It was like I had just a little bit of pixie dust in my heels and I was ready to sprinkle that magic all over San Diego.
I felt like I belonged and I felt like I had finally found my tribe. Also, I might have developed a slight tan line in the shape of a rainbow flag – but hey, worth it!
Donna Walker
Co-owner, South Park Dog Wash
It was back in the 1980s that I first got brave enough to watch the Pride parade in person. I say “ watch” and do not use the word “attend” or “participate” in the festivities because at that time I was still in the Navy and being gay was not allowed. I would heavily disguise myself by bundling myself up in hats, jackets and sunglasses despite the summer heat. I would then ride my bicycle along the outside perimeters of the parade route seeing as much as I could and generally enjoying the vibe of all the happiness the celebration exuded.
I think back now that my trying to be covert actually drew more attention to my presence there. Undercover yet over clothed does not mean incognito, but I was young and tried my best to go unnoticed.
After my experiences of being under investigation in the Navy for being gay I did not want to take any chances. I was drawn to the celebration and outpouring of love despite the danger I felt by observing what was considered off limits. I braved the parade route but never ventured into the festival at the end of the route. I figured that I could always say that I was just passing by if I was ever caught. It would not be so easy to explain why I was seen inside of a gated and fenced in festival, so I enjoyed it from the outskirts, looking in.
So my happiest memory was after I retired from my 20 years of service in the Navy. My business partner Lisa Vella and I opened our business, South Bark Dog Wash. I now decided to live my life open and free. I became more involved in the LGBTQ+ events and community. I attended the parade, festivals, events and celebrations freely. It was strange to be so open but I reveled in it.
Sometime around the mid 2000s, South Bark had become known within the community as an established gay-owned business and my business partner and I decided to put our own float in the parade. We decorated a truck like a giant dog.
Our South Bark crew, friends and allies walked alongside the dog float and we took turns riding in the back of the truck wavering to the crowds and throwing out free South Bark logo tennis balls and women’s boy short panties with our logo on them.
The happiness I felt being so out and open, surrounded by love and gratitude and that people loved our business and accepted us, was very powerful and pure. I have experienced so many happy moments celebrating Pride, so many memories with so many people. Really good times with good friends at Pride parties, connecting, engaging and celebrating love and freedom. My favorite memories of the Pride celebration are the feelings of acceptance, love, commonality and understanding that gave me the strength to become a whole person.
Bridget Wilson
Retired; Activist (50 years)
It is hard to pinpoint just one of the Pride celebrations. Pride is always my favorite event of the year. Perhaps the first Pride after the demise of DADT. The creation of the military and veterans contingent is something that I have enjoyed a great deal. Our Pride after marriage equality was joyful as well.
I have been able to share 50 years of Pride with this community. This is when we celebrate ourselves and replenish the fuel that we need to move forward. There is probably no more important Pride than this one. We are once again facing danger and we all need the fuel to move forward.
I am grateful to share yet another Pride with all my friends. I am so grateful for those who have carried this forward year after year. Happy Pride!
What does Pride mean to you?
Brenda Aguirre
LGBTQ community activist
As a queer mom of a trans child and a pansexual child, and someone who was exiled from a conservative Catholic family and grew up in an unaccepting environment, Pride means everything to me.
Our community does not choose this path; it is a journey filled with challenges and hurt, but it is one we embrace with resilience and love. All we seek is to belong and to be accepted for who we are. My children and I have faced many challenges, like not having blood family, but our resilience and desire to belong have only strengthened our bond and now we have a wonderful chosen family.
Pride is a celebration of our authenticity, self-love, beauty, and the unconditional love that binds us. It is a testament to our strength, the power of love and acceptance, and the joy of finding a community that welcomes and cherishes us. This journey is the fuel that has made me the activist I am today. I will never let my community down. I fight not only for my kids but for us all, to keep celebrating our truth with Pride.
Rikke Bahena
Photographer, Bar Manager
Pride for me means the opportunity we have to keep thriving as a community and the pursuit of working hard to be the best version of ourselves, to realize we have the power to change our own life stories, our mindset and future. We need to do it for all those who didn’t make it, for all those keep hiding for fear and sorrow, for all those who don’t have the chance to be themselves, and for all the old versions of ourselves who didn’t believe we were enough, worth it and deserving of love.
Let’s change the narrative and translate the pain of our struggles into a relentless power of love and kindness. Because we all deserve to be happy.
Michael Donovan
President, POZabilities
For me Pride is a celebration of the power of community. As individuals we are heard as a whisper, when we act together we roar! We, with our chosen families, have the power to drive change. I’m proud of what we have and will accomplish.
Edgar Gallego
TV News Reporter
For me, San Diego Pride is the perfect time to celebrate who I am and what I enjoy being most, my loved ones, my family and my way of being and thinking. Without a doubt, San Diego Pride was the first event where I was able to freely express my love for myself.
Elaine Graybill
Community volunteer and Philanthropist
I am straight and 80 years old now and I got involved because of politics – Chris Kehoe had just been elected thanks to the efforts of Bill Beck and David Huskey, and that was a big f***ing deal.
I love to have fun, Pride has always had that element to it: a time of celebration. But always underlying that fun element was the seriousness of not having equal rights and fear, there was still underlying fear in 1993. So Pride meant fun, but an acknowledgment of that fear … and work.
I can’t remember a San Diego Pride when I didn’t volunteer in some capacity. I always felt this joy and acceptance that the community had given to me.
Through the years, as LGBT folk gained more legal rights and social acceptance, Pride became more intensely focused on fun and celebration, and I was happy to focus on that, too. But here in 2024, I find myself looking at celebration with concern and perhaps fear creeping in again.
Joey Guzzino
Photographer
Pride to me means capturing the spirit and resilience of our queer community through my camera lens.
My pictures aim to showcase the vibrancy of queer life, celebrating every identity and story. It’s about preserving our moments of joy, love and solidarity for the world to see.
Somber Joe
Musician
Pride to me is about being able to live my most authentic life while also acknowledging that I would not be able to do so without all the ones who came before me who paved the way.
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