Thirty years ago, Al Best was sitting in a pair of khaki slacks, a blue blazer and a light blue shirt carefully planning his move to San Diego. What he didn’t plan on was marching in 29 consecutive San Diego Pride parades. Or meeting a young Honduran at one of those parades. Or running for city council in 1978. Or meeting a cheeky drag queen named Nicole.

Such are the events that shape our lives, and Al Best and Eduardo Moncada are no different. This weekend, Pride bestows its highest Rally Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award, on Best and Moncada, who have worked in tandem on justice causes ranging from HIV/AIDS awareness to medical marijuana, from inclusion to immigration.

“I had come to San Diego for a National Science Foundation meeting and moved here 29 years ago,” explains Best. “This will be my 29th Pride Parade and Eduardo’s 16th. We have marched together in every single one of them.”

“What was exciting about 30 years ago was to see the gay center, which had just opened,” says Best. “It was absolutely wonderful that these people, these men and women, were willing to be out. It was all very exciting really.”

“What got me started on Pride, though, was when I attended the second parade meeting,” says Best. “It was my first meeting, and everyone was discussing whether there should be a second Pride. I didn’t understand what the problem was, being that we had already had one. Apparently there was some discussion about whether this would be the right time or not. Suddenly, at my very first meeting, after being asked if a second parade was really necessary, this person named Nicole turns to me and says, ‘Hey, you.’ ‘Me?’ “‘Yeah, you in the college drag. What do you think?’ I mean, first of all, only Nicole could have said that, and second, I just said, ‘It seems to me that being gay never seems to be the right time.’”

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Best continued to work on behalf of GLBT rights, and in 1978 became the first openly gay person to be certified on a ballot in San Diego County, and among the first 10 nationally. Though he lost his bid for a city council seat, this did not stop him from continuing his political passion.

Best was elected to the Civil Service Organization, and was later asked to be its national president, the first for any openly gay individual.

When Best and Moncada met almost 20 years ago, it was during Pride.

“I love celebrations,” says Moncada. “I love the color and the music and seeing people happy. You are so proud to see all the people.”

As for his favorite color, Moncada says that has to be orange.

“Whenever I see orange, I am filled with energy,” explains Moncada, who is Buddhist.

Moncada is originally from Honduras, where Buddhism and homosexuality don’t exactly sit well with the local church. In fact, Moncada says his own mother was banned from bringing him to church because the priest believed he was homosexual. Of course, no one had bothered to ask Moncada.

If they had, however, he would not have evaded the question. Even when people harassed him to “go out and get a girl,” he refused.

“I told them I couldn’t. I didn’t want to,” says Moncada. “When they asked why, I just told them I have different feelings. I don’t feel safe around women. I am scared. I feel safe with men.”

The idea that a man who literally walked 3,000 miles from Honduras to come to America would be worried about safety in terms of gender is surprising. But not to Best.

“I think Eduardo believes that his place is most at peace with a man,” says Best.

“With Al,” Moncada clarifies, adding, “And I had to swim, too.”

Radical to the core, Best argues they are not fighting for special rights, just equal rights.

“One of the big arguments of the Religious Right is that we can’t propagate,” says Best of marriage equality. “Okay, fine. They are right when they say we cannot have children. So I think it should be imposed that after 12 months, if a heterosexual couple does not have children, they are automatically divorced.”

“We want an even playing ground,” says Best.

Creating an even playing ground is just what Best and Moncada try to do for the entire San Diego community. Together, they have contributed countless hours to Something Special Food Pantry, student groups at San Diego State University, the Gay Alliance for Equal Rights, the Medical Marijuana Task Force, and, of course, Pride.

So, how do these two want to be remembered during this celebration of their Lifetime Achievement Award?

“I want to be known as someone who lived my life with my eyes wide open and my ears wide open and as someone who fought until we have 100 percent equal rights,” they said.

Does it really matter which one said it? One said it. The other one seconded it.