Seventy-thousand people went to San Francisco on Sunday for the 2025 Pride Parade.
About 50,000 people took the 1.5-mile path that went from Market Street to the Embarcadero to Civic Center Plaza. About 250,000 people stood on the streets and watched the 55th annual parade.
“It lets everyone know that you care about them, love them, and are there for them,” said Jadyn from Atwater.
She said she is on the board of the brand-new Marin LGBTQ+ Center. Jeanette Au said this was her first time in the San Francisco Pride walk.
“We were in the trolley at the very beginning of the parade,” he said.
“The energy was amazing, it made me emotional to see so many people out here, who support queer folks and who want to see this,” she said.
The theme of this year’s Pride event in San Francisco was “Queer Joy is Resistance.” That’s something that a lot of people at Pride events agree with. For example, U.S. Representative Lateefah Simon (D-CA) rode in the parade with the first openly transgender member of Congress, US Representative Sarah McBride (D-DEL).
“This is who we are.” “We’re about happiness and freedom for queer people,” Simon said.
McBride went to the events in the Bay Area and said that Pride is a way to clear up hate against the community.
“Queer joy is the perfect example that what right wing politicians say about us is not true – that when we allow people to live fully and freely in our society, they are happier, healthier and they find joy,” she told us.
People who went, like Au, also said they related to this year’s SF Pride theme.
“So really, being happy and holding onto your spirit, it’s resistance,” he said. “You’re telling them, ‘I’m here, we’ve been here, we’re not going anywhere, and we love being here.'”
A lot of people in the walk had signs that said bad things about the Trump administration and how it treats the LGBTQ+ community.
Some people said their lives are in danger, especially those who are queer.
“Because we need to stick together more than ever in these political times.” Lady Diana Feluz Oliva of the Latine LGBTQ+ Center said, “We need to come together, and we also want to celebrate our happiness and freedom.”
Mayor Daniel Lurie of San Francisco joined the people in the parade and promised that San Francisco would always fight back as long as anyone is in danger.
“San Francisco always stands up for its LGBTQ+ community, always has, always will,” said Lurie.
After the parade, the fun continued at the Civic Center, where DJs and singers played on several stages. There were also more than 300 booths and sellers set up in the area. There were a lot of people dancing to the music, standing shoulder to shoulder.
Certain people used Pride to honor their own love stories.
Danilo NRG of Sonoma gave Johnnie OTR of Sonoma a kiss and said, “Happy Pride!” This is real love. We’re not here to be fake; we want to show what real love is.”
NRG said he has been going to Pride in San Francisco for years, ever since Lady Gaga was the main act more than ten years ago. His favorite artist, Saucy Santana, is going to be performing at this year’s Pride events.
This was the first time Izabela Starks from San Francisco came to Pride with her girlfriend.
“She’s from a red state, deeply, deeply conservative area, I wanted to show her how wonderful California can be,” Starks said.
