By Sara Bloomberg



The Guardsman

San Francisco’s annual Pride celebration kicked off Monday afternoon with a flag raising ceremony at City Hall, where equality and funding for HIV and AIDS services were hot topics.

Mayor Ed Lee promised continued support for local HIV and AIDS services.

If the Board of Supervisors approves Lee’s new budget proposal, $6.7 million will be restored for local HIV and AIDS services that were at risk of federal cuts, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Lee briefly tempered the excitement for his announcement with a reality check.

“Despite what people might say, that we’re pretty lucky (…) we have a lot more to do,” Lee said at Monday’s ceremony. “Every time we make an investment, there’s either the state or the feds that will cut other programs. They can’t figure it out. We have to take care of our own folks.”

Global equality is the theme of this year’s pride celebration, which is said to attract up to a billion dollars this colorful weekend.

“This year’s theme, global equality, is all about getting not just the city in shape — it’s getting the whole world to pay attention to how equality would benefit them,” Lee said.

Marriage equality could soon be ruled on by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Proposition 8 on February 7, nearly four years after California voters narrowly approved it. Prop 8 restricted marriage to be between a man and a woman.

A federal version of the California law, known as the Defense of Marriage Act, was enacted by Congress in 1996 and was ruled unconstitutional in May by the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

Appeals of both decisions are expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court but supporters of equal marriage rights are optimistic that the rulings will be upheld.

This optimism is fueled by President Obama’s recent statement in support of gay marriage and echoed through the crowd at Monday’s flag raising.

Ray Hawkins, a member of the San Francisco chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays — more commonly known as PFLAG — was optimistic about the future.

“The wave of public opinion is increasing. It’s very hopeful,” Ray Hawkins said, referring to progress made over the past several years, including presidential support, the reversal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell and the rulings against Prop 8 and DOMA.

Several community members were honored Monday as Grand Marshals of Pride, including Gilbert Baker, the man who designed the original rainbow flag in 1978 just blocks from City Hall on Grove St.

Dressed in a sharp yellow and white suite, complete with a matching yellow boater-style hat adorned with a rainbow ribbon, Baker reminded the crowd about progressive happenings in the 1970s — from Harvey Milk’s election and work as an openly gay supervisor to Jimmy Carter’s work on human rights — and cautioned not to take anything for granted.

“We all laughed saying, oh Reagan, he’ll never be president. It happened. Our work is not done and it’s going to be harder than ever,” Gilbert said, and continued that the struggle for equality and progress is “like a rainbow: can’t see the beginning, can’t see the end. We are all the colors.”

Those colors now fly high in front of City Hall, raised by both Mayor Lee and Gilbert.

Monday’s celebration began with a contingent of notables on the balcony overlooking a modest crowd assembled in front of the steps below, just outside City Hall.

The San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Freedom Band performed several overtures, including “San Francisco” originally performed by Scott McKenzie in 1967, as the crowd patiently awaited the flag raising.

One man, Larry J. Edmond — a.k.a. “Edmond Juicye” (yes, the “e” is on the end) — sported a rainbow wig and shook his orange and golden pom poms as he transformed the space in between the crowd and the band into a dance floor. No one joined him but he beamed with pride nonetheless.

“I see myself as a Same Gender Loving man,” Edmond said. He lauded the recent achievements of the LGBT community and acknowledged that more needs to be done for equality. “We can do better.”

After the flag raising, everyone filtered inside City Hall to the second floor balcony overlooking the grand staircase and a statue of Harvey Milk, where the event continued with speeches and awards, followed snacks, champagne and mingling.

Dressed to the nines and wearing their crowns, Empress Sissy St. Clair and Emperor Bradley Roberts represented the Imperial Council of San Francisco, a non-profit dedicated to raising funds for other non-profits, according to its website.

In addition to their normal fund raising duties, their royal highnesses just completed the AIDS Lifecycle bicycle tour and were the first royalty to do so, they said.

Official event info for Pride can be found at www.sfpride.org. The parade will start at 10:30 a.m. on June 24 from the intersection of Market and Beale streets.

Other celebrations to be found this week include the TransMarch (http://www.transmarch.org/) on June 22 and the Dyke March on June 23 (http://thedykemarch.org/).

Here are some more cheap or free pride week events in San Francisco: