San Francisco Pride 2009

I'm a bit late with this entry, but it's been a busy few weeks. San Francisco Pride 2009 was its usual busy event with the Trans March kicking off the official festivities last Friday night.

There were a number of big names in the Trans World that spoke at the pre-march, including Andrea James and Cecilia Chung. I walked with a few friends to a spot where the march just seemed to end. I'd heard the joke that it was a circle, but we didn't even make it back to the start...so, the gang just wandered off to dinner.

On Saturday, I chilled until heading over to the Dyke March. I met up with a friend and we wandered back and forth between friends before finally marching along with all the lesbians.

Sigh...I love lesbians.

I made semi-reservations at one of the restaurants in the Castro earlier in the week so that we wouldn't have to fight the lines to eat. Luckily, we slipped right in before all the crowds hit. After being there for a bit, I saw one guy sitting across from us that I recognized.

"Hey Carissa...recognize that guy over there?"

He was the brother from Prodigal Sons...the trans-themed movie Carissa and I had seen earlier in the week. I then noticed Kim and her mom sitting at the other end of their table and thought it an interesting coincidence to see them here.

I was hoping to chat briefly with Kim after their movie had aired on Wednesday, but there were so many people in that part of the theater, and we were so far back, that it would have been almost impossible to reach her. So, we waited until they were about to leave to approach, and then mention how much we loved the film. We were even able to capture a photo with them before everyone filtered back into the crowded streets of Pink Saturday.

Sunday morning came all too fast, and before I knew it, the San Francisco 2009 Pride Parade was underway. I rode the TGSF float designed and built by a variety of the officers of Transgender San Francisco. Not many floats can claim to have been built by their organization, but we did. Ally, Lisa, Bonnie and crew did a fantastic job putting it all together. I was able to get in a few hours on construction, and even spent about 15 minutes wedged in the inner workings of the base while securing the handrails. I actually had a little trouble with my boobs fitting over the support system that held it all together.

The float was built on the concept of an all inclusive ENDA. Some of the remaining classes that do not enjoy federal protection include transgender people...which were thrown to the side in the previous attempt to get ENDA through our national government. The push now is to have an all inclusive ENDA to protect not only gay and lesbian people, but also transgender people as well.

As seen recently with the Sacramento radio station controversy, we may be a very small minority, but we can still pack a punch. I didn't have too much time to write about it and I have yet to listen to their apology show, but I caught some of the initial stuff on Facebook and responded before GLAAD sent out their mass action email.

And I think we are seeing the transgender power coming through with ENDA now. HRC seems to have seen how powerful the transgender side can be (but I still haven't given them any money).

I had a really nice time riding and waving to the crowd as we rolled along Market street. Both of my arms became tired with the waving and operating of the "hammer" on the wall. Luckily, Lisa is a scrappy little fighter, and was able to keep the hammer going for quite a while...well after my arm had started to give out.

I spent a bit more time at the parade and hanging out with a friend before finally crashing back at my place for some rest. Pride is a pretty busy weekend, and it's hard managing enough energy to make it all the way through Sunday afternoon. This was also kind of a special year for me since I finally rode the float as Ms. Transgender San Francisco 2009...which probably helped provide more energy for the weekend.

Edit: Here's another photo from the parade...or, well, right before the parade. I was able to get a picture with Andrea James and Calpernia Addams, who were up from LA for San Francisco Pride.