Trans march kicks off Pride Weekend

In one of the most gleeful events ever held in San Francisco, thousands marched in support of transsexual and transgender rights on June 24. The Trans March was the kickoff event of Pride Weekend. It marked a historic recognition of the trans movement. People cheered, smiled and celebrated as they marched from Dolores Park to the Civic Center.

The Oakland Fejacks, a witty cheerleading group, chanted and danced the entire route. Their chants made connections between the fight for trans rights and the fight against the U.S. government’s oppression of people in other countries. “Occupation is a crime, free Iraq and Palestine,” they shouted.

The following night the community came out for the annual Dyke March. Tens of thousands of women filled the streets for as far as the eye could see, joyously marching from Dolores Park to the Castro. Workers World Party had a contingent marching under the banner: “No Pride in war, racism and occupation.”

And on June 26, hundreds of thousands of people celebrated the 35th annual Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans Pride parade. People lined the streets several rows deep along the entire parade route. Dykes on Bikes led off the parade. The dozens of contingents included a large Gay-Straight Alliance of youth, the Service Employees union, the LGBT labor group Pride at Work, and the Bay Area Amer ican Indian Two-Spirits.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom rode a bicycle in the parade. Newsom was warmly received by the crowd for defying state officials and opening City Hall to more than 4,000 same-sex marriages last year.

—Photo & story by Brenda Sandburg