San Diego will be celebrating its 29th annual Pride this weekend. As the event approaches its 30th anniversary, some soul-searching is in order. Pride weekends take place every summer in hundreds of cities and small towns in the United States alone, expanding to places as unlikely as Croatia. Since the first Pride march 33 years ago, has Pride lost some of its original focus, and if it has, why do we continue to celebrate it? Has some of the activism inherent in the first Pride marches been lost to corporate interests? How has Pride evolved along with the gay rights movement, and do we still need it?

A brief refresher course on Pride’s history: in the early morning hours of Saturday, June 28, 1969, New York City police performed a standard raid on the Stonewall Inn, a Greenwich Village gay bar. Though the official excuse for the raid was illegal alcohol sales (the bar was technically a “private club”), this was the second time that week the bar had been raided. Most of the approximately 200 patrons were released, but the staff and a few of the more “dressed up” clientele were loaded into a paddy wagon. A crowd of patrons and onlookers gathered outside the bar, surrounding those that had been detained. A few shouts and catcalls turned into bottle throwing, then a full-blown riot. It seemed a pressure valve had finally burst in the gay community; people who had been routinely beaten and jailed for years because of their sexual orientation finally fought back. The riots lasted through the night, continuing on Saturday night, then into Sunday. No one was killed, but a few police officers were injured and approximately 13 people were arrested.

The Stonewall Riots are seen as a turning point in the struggle for GLBT equality and a marker for the birth of the gay liberation movement. During the rest of the summer of 1969, pamphlets were distributed, meetings were held and organizations were formed, calling for action against homosexual oppression and abuse.

The original Pride celebration was a protest march in 1970 to mark the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. Three cities participated that year: New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. The marches were decidedly grassroots, the sheer spirit of protest overcoming the parades’ loose organization. The movement grew steadily, with San Diego holding its first Pride march in the summer of 1974. By 1982, the National Association of Lesbian and Gay Pride was founded, with representatives from six U.S. cities meeting in Boston to help coordinate Pride celebrations. The association became known as Interpride in 1999, and as of 2001 has organizations representing 24 countries on six continents.

“Prides are part of the realm of popular culture,” says Suzanne Girard, co-president of Interpride. “That’s the purpose — it’s open. It’s there to attract the masses. It’s on the floor; it’s not high up; it’s not the doctorate, the master’s degree [or] even the university degree. You see it; it’s in your face; it’s there. It has to speak to the majority.... That’s why you have parades.”

Activity and spirit, rather than solemn observation, is the traditional way to celebrate Pride. With the expansion of Pride, however, criticism has arisen that the event has become too decadent — another annual excuse to party hard, like St. Patrick’s Day — devoid of any original meaning. Has Pride become too celebratory, and even if it has, is that a bad thing?

“The myth is that in the early years Pride was ‘all political’ and now it’s ‘all celebratory,’” Richard Pfeiffer, executive director of Chicago Pride, says. “I get a kick out of it when I hear people say that, because Pride has always been both.”

Kevin, 39, an Atlanta, Georgia-based small-business owner, takes a midlevel perspective echoed by many. “Over the years, we’ve had a lot of corporate sponsors, which is not necessarily bad, but you have a lot of politicians involved, which can be seen as a good and bad thing. I do think [Pride] has lost a lot of its original fire ... but I think we need to hold Pride parades every year because it still has meaning within the community and embraces awareness.”

“It’s kind of bewildering,” says Donna Narducci, executive director of The Atlanta Pride Committee, Inc. “During the three weeks building up to and after Atlanta Pride, we’ve received letters complaining both of ‘sanitizing’ and taking sex out of Pride, as well as making it unfriendly to families ‘by allowing leather men in chaps and shirtless lesbians.’ We also hear that too many politicians are involved — and the flipside, that no one cares about the politics.”

Anything that expands and grows in complexity also takes more effort to run smoothly, and a well-run operation costs money to maintain year after year. Has this need for sponsorship taken some of the focus away from Pride as a representation of the struggle for GLBT civil rights, choosing instead to focus on the thrill of the party to attract customers? Lynn, a 39-year-old healthcare consultant currently working in the San Diego area, thinks it has. “[In smaller towns], it kept its original focus. People really came out to support what the issues were about. The [bigger] ones can become much too much of a marketing issue.”

“Absolutely not,” counters Teddy Witherington, executive director of San Francisco LGBT Pride and co-president of Interpride. “As early as 1974, the San Francisco Pride event was criticized for being a party and losing sight of the political goals of the movement. There was no original focus other than commemorating the Stonewall Riots. I think a lot of people forget that Pride is the ultimate expression of grassroots activism. Just because it may be bigger doesn’t mean it isn’t grassroots. In San Francisco, our theme, grand marshals and other decisions come from the community. All of our stages are run by different communities and over 2,000 individual volunteers are needed to make the event happen. You can’t get more grassroots than that.”

Narducci agrees: “I think we’re on the right track regarding corporate sponsors. Yes, I am thankful for the corporate checks and pro-bono services, despite the ‘hits’ Pride organizers have taken in recent years. Detractors clamor for a free Pride — free of sponsorship, free of admission and full of high-end entertainment. How this should be paid for, no one seems to be able to articulate....”

A glance at San Diego LGBT Pride’s annual report for the 2002 fiscal year reveals a prominent volunteer base — over 6,000 volunteer hours were completed by 917 individuals. The distribution of revenue also shows an explicit focus on fundraising for various organizations within San Diego’s GLBT community. For example, $100,000 of the 2002 Pride festival profit was donated to the San Diego Human Dignity Foundation. An additional $25,000 was given to the LGBT Community Center, $16,500 to the San Diego Foundation for Change, and $1,500 each to Latin Pride, Ebony Pride and North County Pride. Various donations totaling $5,150 went to AIDSWalk, Interpride sponsorship, the Dykes & Friends March and Pride’s mentorship program.

Combined donations from the five official Pride parties totaled $17,000. The report lists 38 official sponsors and 57 agencies that donated time, supplies and services to the event.

“Sponsors invest in [the GLBT] community through Pride,” explains Narducci, “which allows us to make nonprofit booths available at lower rates, and allows sponsoring companies to stand up, publicly stating that the norm in business is to be inclusive.”

According to Suanne Pauley, executive director of San Diego LGBT Pride, corporate sponsorship serves an additional purpose beyond generating funds within the GLBT community. “Corporate involvement is an indication that the LGBT community is considered a group with the income and flexibility to be a viable and desired component to a marketing strategy,” she says. “We are no longer invisible or insignificant.”

Indeed, many companies are beginning to target the gay pocketbook. Subaru has its “It’s Not a Choice” advertising slogan, while Bud Light, Abercrombie & Fitch, Absolut Vodka, Firestone Tires, Miller Brewing Co. and Calvin Klein have all produced ads aimed directly at gay consumers. In a capitalist society, keeping this niche market cornered means sending out a positive message to its members. That translates into political power for the GLBT consumer. In order to retain their profit margin, companies must cater to the needs of the gay community, occasionally succumbing to intense political pressure at the threat of a boycott.

“We had a large corporation participating in the [Chicago] parade for a few years that had domestic partnership benefits for its employees,” relates Pfeiffer. “Then, one year, they took them away, but still wanted to march in the parade. They were advised not to. People said, ‘Do you really want to be booed along the parade route?’ The company was like, ‘Oh, yeah. I guess that wouldn’t work.’ So they reinstated domestic partnership benefits and marched in the parade the following year.”

“For equality to become a reality in a capitalist nation will require an economic imperative,” says Witherington. “As the rest of the civilized world makes progress, so the U.S.A. will find itself unable to compete in a global market which requires increasingly free movement of labor. Why would 10 percent of the high-tech work force choose to live in the U.S.A. as opposed to a country which recognizes them and their relationships as equal citizens? It seems cynical, I know, but ultimately the more centrist elements of the Republican party will see the economic sense of that reflected in stock values and vote accordingly.”

Recent gains in gay rights mean that there is a lot to celebrate, regardless of how much more there is to fight for. Canada legalizing same-sex marriage is a profound victory. Vermont’s civil union law rekindles the hope that similar legislation may eventually pass in the United States. The recent decision by the Supreme Court to overturn sodomy laws, though it is appalling to many that such laws even existed, is nevertheless another huge step.

Even with recent progress, though, there is still the threat of regression. “In San Francisco, our [2003] Pride event is probably the most overtly political it has been for many years,” according to Witherington. “That is the nature of the beast. In times when we are under attack (i.e., subject to a Republican regime), the community as a whole feels more motivated on a political level.”

Opinions differ on timeframes for GLBTs achieving full legal equality. Forecasts ranging from one to 20 years imply confidence that most of us will see some semblance of marriage rights and open military service within our lifetimes.

“Experiencing equality is another thing,” says Narducci. “Women have equal rights, racial minorities have equal rights — according to the law. Yet many face discrimination every day.”

“The laws will probably happen before ... but changing mentalities takes eons,” says Girard. “We have it here in Canada [right now]. They say more than 50 percent of Canadians aren’t particularly for gay marriage — it’s just that they don’t care. Forty years ago, forget about it. It came with the change of the hippie movement. People’s minds changed about sex. [GLBTs] followed that popular movement; we became part of the growing differences.”

So, if and when equality is achieved, will Pride parades still be necessary? There are strong opinions on this issue, all equally pro-gay rights. Some people argue against the continuation of Pride celebrations, noting that the ultimate expression of GLBT freedom occurs when sexual orientation becomes a non-issue. Therefore, when the persecution has gone, so must the celebration. It makes logical sense.

Others disagree with the very definition of equality, focusing on Pride’s sense of individual expression, rather than on its political aspects. “There are many under the umbrella of LGBT who seek liberation, not assimilation,” says Witherington.

Many say that there will always be a use in commemorating Pride because the meaning of the event has evolved into more than just the struggle against sexual persecution. Pride celebrates GLBT heritage and the cultural, political and religious diversity of the community itself. “Pride in the queer community serves a larger social function in the same way [that] St. Patrick’s Day does for the Irish or Easter does for the Christians or Carnaval does for Latin cultures,” says Witherington. “Every ‘people’ needs a ritual and annual celebration. Pride happens to be ours.”

“The whole notion to me is that we still need [Pride],” says Girard. “We need it for the youth. [Being gay] is not accepted, I’m sorry. And although these [pro-gay political] behemoths exist, Pride is a lot of what the youth comes out through. That’s where they find solace and encouragement. If we stop existing, we go back to complacency. We’ll go back to where we were 30 years ago ... unless the homophobia is gone — I’m not talking about laws, I’m talking about in popular culture. And it’s good to remember your roots. We’ve had such a hellish history. In a hundred years we have to remember what we went through for two thousand years. There will always be that notion of Prides recollecting that. In the last 30 years, [gay civil rights has] gone really fast. And I think what made it go fast was the gay Prides.”

Summer Morse, event coordinator for The Center in San Diego, has a similar opinion. “I do think it’s important that we continue to hold Pride parades and rallies, because it creates a visual [image] of coming together. Unfortunately, 90 percent of the world sits in front of the television, and [parades and rallies] are a way of saying, ‘Here we are, we are not going anywhere, we are going to deal with this issue.’ It is an important energy that emanates, much like a ripple-effect on water, and I cannot express enough that it’s education, education, education.”

Pride seems to be what you make of it, but is ultimately about the freedom to express oneself. Those who choose to participate in the event create the atmosphere.

“The parade combines as many groups in the community as possible,” observes Pfeiffer. “For example, Act-Up marches in the parade, with female impersonators immediately following them. Groups that during the rest of the year don’t even agree with each other march side by side. Chicago Pride this year had both the gay Democrats and the gay Republicans participating, as well as the gay Atheists and about 35 different church groups.”

The interesting thing about the community, of course, is that roughly 10 percent (according to popular lore) of every community in the world is GLBT. That it is hard to form a common identity — and represent it in a public event — every GLBT individual can agree upon. Not everyone can endure the beliefs of the other communities they are forced to associate with under the GLBT tent, and Pride is bound to ostracize some of its members. One of Pride’s central tenets, inclusion, is easier to shout than it is to practice.

“Rather, the question should be, and always has been, does your Pride serve its community and does it represent that community well?” says Witherington. “As our communities evolve so does our Pride event. It is completely different now than it was 33 years ago and will be completely different 33 years from now.”

“Pride needs to evolve continuously,” says Girard. “If the younger generation has criticisms, you know, make them known — change things; add things. All things need to grow and evolve that way.”

Witherington concurs. “Pride should evolve in a synchronization with the hopes, dreams and aspirations of the communities it serves, simple as that. An organizer of Pride who has an agenda is both undesirable and dangerous.”

As Pride enters its fourth decade, whether or not we need it can be judged by the value we place on the reasons why we still celebrate it. Pride commemorates the history of the gay civil rights movement, and marks GLBT cultural evolution on an annual basis. Pride serves as a release for many individuals who do not feel free to be ‘out’ in their daily lives. Pride is about exposure, directing media attention to gay issues. Revenue generated from Pride festivals benefits the GLBT community. Pride creates a sense of community that can be hard to find for many GLBTs, temporarily dispelling feelings of loneliness and isolation. Pride celebrates uniqueness, and promotes inclusion. And, of course, Pride is a really big party.

“Those at Stonewall took a huge risk,” says Narducci. “Their bravery and boldness allowed our freedom movement to evolve to the point that folks are actually sponsoring our expression of such, instead of beating and jailing us. At the end of the day, Pride is the collective expression of an ideology that says, ‘No matter who I am, I have the right to be — and the right to be free.’”