Gays love a parade… and please don’t try to rain on our parade because you’ll have a whole lot of angry drag queens and go-go boys after you! But our LGBT Pride Parade and associated festival cost a lot of money to put on. As the 2009 San Diego Pride events are just a little over a month away, our local night spots have really stepped it up this year with their fundraising efforts. It’s particularly important to support these fundraisers because the more money that Pride raises in advance to cover production costs, the more money that can be donated back to the community at the end of the Pride season.

This past Tuesday, Ambassadors of Pride Jason Knight, Jonathan Hale, Michael Magee and Michael Kirkeby organized an event at Martini’s Above Fourth to raise money to underwrite the cost of festival tickets given free to active duty military service members. Providing free admission to our troops is the least our community can do to show our respect and gratitude to our men and women in uniform, and this fundraiser enables Pride to provide this benefit. Special thanks to Martini’s Above Fourth for providing the yummy appetizers!

Several other fun events are coming up that will support Pride. We all love to go out and party, and we all love Pride, so I encourage you to attend and support these events! Rich’s and SDPIX present “Evolution” on the second Friday of each month. This Friday, June 12, 15 percent of cover charges collected will be donated to San Diego Pride. Evolution is a high energy, uplifting dance party, with DJ Dan DeLeon of Los Angeles spinning hot new vocals, thundering tribal rhythms, and unforgettable melodies. Don’t forget that Rich’s also offers VIP bottle service – call Graham at 619-578-9055 for more information. Rich’s is located at 1051 University Ave. in Hillcrest.

On Saturday, head over to Bourbon Street for another fabulous San Diego Pride benefit . The bar is going to transformed into a “Carnival,” complete with cotton candy, hot dogs, liquor snow cones (I’m excited about those), popcorn, games, prizes, face painting, clowns, stiltwalkers, and other exciting attractions. Disco Dolly will be the evening’s hostess, and it promises to be a great time – definitely not your grandmother’s church carnival! Bourbon Street is located at 4612 Park Blvd. in University Heights.

Unfortunately, we have not had much “summer weather” yet this summer, but being a lifelong San Diegan, seeing many summers come and go, I am pretty confident sunshine will abound. Hopefully those beautiful sunny San Diego afternoons will return in time for a Pride Pool Party at the Sheraton Mission Valley on Sunday, June 21, from 2 to 6 p.m. The event, which is a benefit for San Diego Pride, will have a $20 admission charge, which will include music by DJ Michael Carrera and appetizers from the Sheraton. It promises to be a fabulous afternoon of splashing around the pool with your fellow gays and allies while supporting a great cause. Check out www.sdpride.org for more information.

Besides San Diego Pride, other organizations are hosting fundraisers around town. The “Love Warrior Art Show” will be held on June 17, at 7 p.m. at Bourbon Street. The event, which will include artwork from more than 25 artists, a silent auction, and drink specials, will benefit Marriage Equality USA (MEUSA). There will also be live performances by Rachel Cantu, and DJ Fix will spin. For more information, contact ally@marriageequalitysd.org.

And finally, an event worth noting is the 4th Annual White Trash Prom taking place at Baja Betty’s on Saturday, June 20. The fourth time is certainly a charm, and this event will be full of beer drinkin’, shot sippin’, and chaw dippin’ (which, by the way, is highly encouraged for this event). This is one event where you don’t need to dress up… In fact, you may have to work even harder to dress down to fit in at this fabulous little hoe-down. The “Prom” will include drink and shot specials, contests, giveaways, and a white trash “boo-fay” (buffet). This is always a fun event, and the outrageous costumes are worth coming to check-out! Baja Betty’s is located at 1421 University Ave. in Hillcrest.

Keep reading in upcoming weeks as I delve into some uncharted territory! A real live “gay bear” is taking me out on the “Bear Circuit” in a few weeks, and I will share all the details with you soon. Also, I’m going to soon share with you some of the hottest “ladies” night spots, and have a full listing of all of the Pride hotspots as the event nears. Enjoy summer!