San Francisco Pride

Parade

Contingents

• Dykes on Bikes, formerly known as "Women's Motorcycle Contingent" for legal purposes, has several hundred motorcycle riders, almost all women-identified although they welcome all gender-variant people. Some of the women are topless, some wear leather or fanciful costumes. The sound of hundreds of motorcycle engines gives this contingent a big impact. They are traditionally the first contingent in the parade; one reason for this is that it is difficult for motorcycles to run reliably at the walking pace of the rest of the parade, so as the first contingent they can move at an easier pace. On November 13, 2006, they won a battle to trademark the name "Dykes on Bikes", having struggled since 2003 to persuade the United States Patent and Trademark Office that "dyke" was not an offensive word. Founding member and activist, Soni Wolf was selected to serve as a Community Grand Marshal at the San Francisco Pride parade in 2018. Wolf died in April 2018 before she was able to serve as Community Grand Marshal. Her close friends represented her in the parade by carrying the custom-painted motorcycle tank from the bike she rode during the inaugural ride in 1976.
• PFLAG is usually one of the largest contingents, featuring several hundred people. These are typically the parents or family members of LGBT people, mostly straight, sometimes marching together with their LGBT relatives. Many carry signs indicating where their PFLAG chapter comes from. This contingent is notable for the emotion it generates along the route.
• Politicians frequently participate in the parade, as a way of making themselves visible to LGBT prospective voters.
• LGBT-affirming religious groups of many denominations contribute several dozen contingents.
• Nonprofit community groups and LGBT-oriented local businesses contribute more than half of the contingents. It is common for them to decorate a flatbed truck or float, along with loud dance music, or create a colorful contingent that carries a visual message out to the bystanders.
• The leather contingent consists of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and pansexual leather and BDSM groups. Robert Davolt, editor of Bound & Gagged, was an organizer of the leather contingent.
• Many San Francisco companies have a contingent, sometimes chaptered by LGBT employees of the company, sometimes chaptered by the company as a community outreach or public relations effort to show support of LGBT causes.

Festival

Administration

• Safety monitors, crews of volunteers who help maintain order on the parade route and in the festival, particularly with respect to crowd control, and participant actions that might be harmful to themselves or others. Created in 1982, the Safety Committee philosophy and training has served as the model for many other LGBT events both local and international.
• Hospitality, a team of volunteers led annually by Davace Chin and Michael Fullam and charged with feeding the other volunteers, keeps hundreds coming back year after year.
• Medical volunteers, who provide first aid and medical assistance to participants. These volunteers are typically doctors, nurses, or other trained emergency response staff.
• Contingent monitors, members of the various contingents who maintain cohesion and safety in their contingent. They are recruited and trained by the Parade leadership.

  History