San Francisco Pride Month: Your ultimate guide to the festivities

But while the parade gets all the attention, there’s much more to Pride Month than that. June is a joyous month, packed with a calendar that includes a host of happenings across the city, from parties, sporting events and film screenings to marches, rallies and street fairs, most centering in downtown, Civic Center, SoMa, the Mission and the Castro.

The theme of 2023 San Francisco Pride Month is “Looking Back and Moving Forward,” a call, organizers say, to draw inspiration and strength from generations of LGBTQ+ pioneers while honoring the progressive champions of today.

Pride is welcoming to all, both within and beyond the LGBTQ+ community. For first-time attendees and longtime allies, SFGATE’s Dan Gentile put together this Pride primer to show you the ropes. The long and short of it, according to Gentile, nightlife impresaria Juanita More and activist Santana Tapia, is: brush up on LGBTQ+ history, be a respectful guest in LGBTQ+ spaces and enjoy yourself as San Francisco Pride Month unfolds.

All the details are still coming together on this month-long celebration here in San Francisco, with more emerging each day. We caught up with San Francisco Pride Executive Director Suzanne Ford and Board President Nguyen Pham to help you understand the history of Pride Month and to put together a guide to the biggest party in the city. Keep reading for all the details. 

How did Pride start?

The history of Pride Month can be traced back to June 28, 1969, and the uprising at the Stonewall Inn, a low-key queer bar in New York City. With homosexuality still considered a criminal offense in 1969, police raids of bars like Stonewall were all too common. On June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Inn’s employees, patrons and neighbors fought back — and hard. Six days of unrest and activism followed in what would become known as the Stonewall Uprising, a flash point in LGBTQ+ history that would reverberate across America and the world. 

June 27, 1970, marked San Francisco’s first Pride celebration. To commemorate the events at the Stonewall Inn a year prior, the community held a protest march on Polk Street, followed by a “gay-in” picnic in Golden Gate Park. That same weekend in June 1970, LGBTQ+ communities in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles coordinated marches and rallies of their own, an example soon to be followed by other cities across the nation. Now, 53 years later, you’ll find Pride parades in cities large and small across the globe, and San Francisco Pride has grown from a small but glorious crew marching down Polk Street into the standard-bearing cultural institution of today.

What are the main San Francisco Pride events?

A host of fantastic events, parades, film festivals and impromptu celebrations to honor the city’s LGBTQ+ community take place from June 2 through June 25, so clear your calendars and get ready to participate. 

City Hall Pride Flag Raising, June 2

San Francisco’s 53rd annual Pride Month launches June 2 when the Pride Flag goes up at 11:30 am at San Francisco City Hall. Elected and city officials and community members will join Mayor London Breed in this longstanding San Francisco tradition. 

“While other states attack the rights of LGBTQ individuals, here in San Francisco, we fly the Pride Flag proudly to celebrate the history and honor the accomplishments of this community,” Mayor Breed said at the 2022 flag-raising. 

Find it: San Francisco City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA 94102; 415-554-4000

San Francisco Pride Kickoff: A Night of Queer Entertainment, June 2

San Francisco Pride launches its own Pride Month festivities the evening of June 2 with a 7 p.m. kickoff party (doors open at 6:30 p.m.) at the historic Castro Theatre. This evening of queer entertainment salutes generations of social justice warriors with excerpts from the play “The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot” and screenings of the films “Verasphere: A Love Story in Costume” and “The Girl From 7th Avenue.” DJs, cocktails and raffles round out the evening in a preview of the month to come. You can get tickets ahead of time or at the door; no one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Find it: Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St., San Francisco, CA 94114; 415-621-6120

San Francisco Giants Pride Night at Oracle Park, June 10

For fans of baseball (or Oracle Park’s famous Gilroy Garlic Fries), June 10 is Giants Pride Night at Oracle Park, with San Francisco’s hometown heroes going head to head with the Chicago Cubs in a 4:35 p.m. face-off. There will be free Giants Pride jerseys for the first 20,000 fans to arrive.

The Giants will show their pride again on June 16, on the road in Los Angeles, when they face longtime rivals the L.A. Dodgers at Dodger Stadium’s LGBTQ+ Pride Night. 

Find it: Oracle Park, 24 Willie Mays Plaza, San Francisco, CA 94107; 415-972-2000

Frameline 47: The San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, June 14-24

The historic Castro Theatre again opens its doors June 14-24 for 11 days of queer cinema leading up to Pride Weekend. Frameline is the annual San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival. Now in its 47th year, Frameline toasts queer cinema and the Bay Area’s historic theaters with 47 showings at the Castro Theatre, plus special screenings at the Roxie, Vogue, 4 Star and Balboa theaters in San Francisco, and Oakland’s New Parkway Theater.

Among scores of can’t-miss films, standouts include Frameline’s festival opener “Fairyland,” which explores the early days of gay liberation through the eyes of a young girl growing up in San Francisco with her gay father in the 1970s and ’80s.

Find it: various venues in San Francisco and Oakland, CA

Pink Triangle installation, June 17-July 1

Every Pride Month since 1996, a massive pink triangle appears on the hillside of Twin Peaks, nearly an acre in size and visible from miles away. On June 17 the 2023 Pink Triangle will be installed at an 11 a.m. ceremony at the top of Twin Peaks.

Once a symbol of Nazi persecution, but now an emblem of LGBTQ+ pride the world over, the 2023 Pink Triangle will be on display from June 17-July 1. Installed with the help of hundreds of volunteers from across the Bay Area, this fixture of San Francisco Pride Month requires 175 pink tarps, 300 feet of sailcloth and 5,000 foot long stakes to pull off each year. 

Find it: Pink Triangle installation, 1 Christmas Tree Point Road, San Francisco, CA 94114 

Trans March, June 23

The annual San Francisco Trans March takes place the Friday before the big Pride weekend, drawing thousands to the Castro for this 20-year-old celebration of transgender and gender non-conforming people. 

The site, 101 Taylor Street, once housed Gene Compton’s Cafeteria, a popular queer hangout where, in 1966, transgender women took an unprecedented stand against police harassment. This resistance sparked a riot, now known as the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, a full three years before the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York. 

In years past, the Trans March has commemorated this seminal moment in LGBTQ+ history with an afternoon of festivities at Mission Dolores Park, a procession to Taylor and Turk streets and a rally at the site of the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot. For 2023, keep an eye on transmarch.org for Trans March details as they emerge.

Find it: Trans March, Mission Dolores Park, Dolores and 19th streets, San Francisco, CA 94114

San Francisco Dyke March, June 24

With banners and bullhorns, the 31st annual San Francisco Dyke March begins June 24 at 5 p.m, stepping off from Dolores and 18th streets and making its way throughout the Castro District.

But make no mistake: The Dyke March is a rally, not a parade. Not a party, but a protest. “This year, the San Francisco Dyke March is a call to action,” organizers wrote on thedykemarch.org. “We’re calling all dykes. To show up. To take up your space. To fight against our erasure by being visible in a nation that says there’s no place for us. To be visible in our community. To be visible in our love for one another.” 

Allies, please take note: On this “one day out of the year where all trans and cis self-identified dykes can proclaim space, rights, visibility and respect,” organizers hold the Dyke March “as a self-identified dyke-only space.” Allies are invited to show their support from the sidelines as marchers make their way through the Castro.

Find it: San Francisco Dyke March, Dolores and 18th streets, San Francisco, CA 94114 

And finally, the lead up to the big event: The San Francisco Pride Celebration and Rally at SF City Hall, June 24-25

Before, during and after the San Francisco Pride Parade  —  arguably the highlight of San Francisco Pride  —  Civic Center Plaza near City Hall becomes party central: a sea of stages, headliners, exhibitors and vendors — and tens of thousands of attendees — against the backdrop of City Hall’s eastern facade. The 2023 Civic Center Pride Celebration runs from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 24, rebooting again on parade day, Sunday, June 25, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Find it: Civic Center Plaza, 335 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102; 415-831-5500

The grandest party of them all: 2023 San Francisco Pride Parade, June 25

The centerpiece of Pride Month, the 2023 San Francisco Pride Parade steps off at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 25 from the corner of Beale and Market streets. The parade then proceeds down Market Street to Eighth Street, concluding at Civic Center, where the official San Francisco Pride Celebration will be held at Civic Center Plaza. As in years past, the San Francisco Pride Parade and Celebration are free to attend and open to all.

Keeping with tradition, the San Francisco Dykes on Bikes women’s motorcycle club leads the parade with a window-shaking roar of engines as they cruise down Market Street — the first of nearly 200 contingents ranging from community organizations to corporate giants. 

Other can’t-miss parade participants, organizers say, include Vera Newman’s wild and colorful Verasphere, the high-flying cheerleaders of Cheer San Francisco, the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band and the corporate contingent of Alaska Airlines, who are known for putting on quite a show. 

How to get to the San Francisco Pride Parade

With many roads closed and street parking scarce, taking Muni is the best and easiest way to get to the San Francisco Pride Parade, organizers say: Civic Center, Powell and Montgomery stations are all along the parade route. For those marching in the parade, Embarcadero Station is the nearest stop to the parade formation area along Beale, Main, Spear and Steuart streets south of Market. For users of wheelchairs, San Francisco Pride has confirmed with transit authorities that the elevator at Civic Center Station will be in operation throughout the festivities. 

With hundreds of thousands packing out the Parade route, organizers recommend arriving at least 30 minutes prior to the 10:30 a.m. start time, though it’s no surprise to see attendees in place as early as 7 a.m. to stake their claim.

Grandstand seating is located on the north side of Market Street between Seventh and Eighth streets, at United Nations Plaza near the Civic Center grounds. The first two rows of the grandstands are reserved for those requiring wheelchair access, ASL interpretation and other accessibility needs. Remaining grandstand seating is up for grabs at $70 a pop and must be reserved online in advance. 

If crowds aren’t your thing, you can still get the Pride vibes without leaving your couch. ABC7 News is the official media partner of SF Pride, and you can catch the live telecast of Parade festivities on TV or online at abc7news.com. 

New for the 2023 Pride Parade is a contactless tap-to-donate system. Volunteers along the parade route will have scanners on hand, so if you’re having a good time, show some love with a two-second tap of a chip card. With rising costs outpacing fundraising, organizers say every dollar will help keep this free, queer celebration going strong. 

Things to keep in mind when attending San Francisco Pride

When asked for advice on how to have the best Pride experience, San Francisco Pride’s organizers offer these suggestions:

• To streamline entry through security, don’t bring large bags.
• Don’t bring glass containers, fireworks, firearms, other weapons, pepper spray, radios, alcohol or coolers. These and other prohibited items will be confiscated and thrown away.
• Stay hydrated throughout Saturday and Sunday.
• Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen.
• Drink responsibly and pace yourself when it comes to alcohol consumption.
• Look out for your friends.
• If you see anything suspicious, alert police, Pride volunteers or call 911.
• Come prepared to experience joy and create it.

This story was edited by Hearst Newspapers Managing Editor Kristina Moy; you can contact her at kristina.moy@hearst.com.