San Francisco

Pink Saturday

Pride Parade

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Pink Saturday is the phrase used to describe the day before the Pride Parade. It's the big party day, after all, folks have to go to work on Monday morning, so the partying after the parade has a time limit. This year Pink Saturday fell on a very warm day, the sun burning through the morning fog by the time I awoke.

There was a good cheer in the air, as area residents, "club members", and the "bridge-and-tunnel" crowd took their annual constitutional in the Castro neighborhood. Recognized by folks patronizing the second-floor drinking establishments, strollers of the sidewalks were hailed. Reunions happened. Lots of Providencetown and West Village sweatshirts were to be seen. I'd describe it as a frenetic calmness; old friends and new friends coming together for a celebration.

The San Francisco Police Department erect barricades around the intersection of Castro and 18th Streets; a one-block cross of pedestrian heaven is created. This photo was taken around 1700, before the multitude began to crowd, filling the area by nightfall. Groups of men and women danced wildly to industrial music on the roofs of the bus stop shelters (one gender per shelter, it seemed). Handheld lasers painted the gyrating dancers. (It was a little bit like being at Burning Man Rave Camp.) A lot of alcohol was consumed, but the crowd is well-behaved, and the police seem comfortable. From time to time a body has to be extracted and sent to the hospital, but nothing serious was reported in the newspaper. In many ways the evening gatherings are much safer for us - there's no sunburn, dehydration, or heat prostration to worry about.