Special Delivery San Diego, the city’s all-volunteer meal provider service for people living with HIV/AIDS, will hold its 11th annual Pride barbecue at Top of the Park, the rooftop bar and restaurant at Park Manor Suites on Sixth Avenue, on Saturday, July 30, from 12:00 noon to 6:00 p.m.

All proceeds benefit Special Delivery’s clients. Tickets are $6 at the door.

Founded in 1991, Special Delivery prepares, packages and delivers meals to over 350 people living with HIV/AIDS annually in San Diego. To date, the non-profit organization has delivered more than 1 million meals.

For more information, to purchase tickets, or for volunteer opportunities, contact Special Delivery at (619) 297-7373.

The official kickoff to Pride weekend is the Spirit of Stonewall rally, starting at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, July 29. This year the rally moves to Balboa Park’s Marston Point, the same location as the Pride festival. The location returns the political event to where San Diego’s earliest rallies were held throughout the 1970s.

The event includes entertainment by Cris Williamson, proclamations from government officials, presentations honoring this year’s Pride award recipients, and a political address by this year’s keynote speaker, openly gay Assemblymember Mark Leno, D-San Francisco.

Since elected in 2002 to the California State Assembly, Leno has passed 28 bills through the Legislature and authored landmark legislation in the areas of GLBT civil rights and equal access to public services. For more information, call the Pride office at (619) 297-7683

The fifth annual Women’s Pride Brunch takes place on Saturday, July 30, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. at California Cuisine, located at 1027 University Ave. in Hillcrest. The featured speaker is Utah State Representative Jackie Biskupski.

Special guests at the Women’s Pride Brunch include 39th District State Senator Christine Kehoe, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and San Diego’s Deputy Mayor Toni Atkins.

Tickets are $50 per person. Call Pamela Wilson at (619) 233-1888 ext. 257 to RSVP or visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com for a link to the Victory Fund Web site.

A series of pre-events will round out this year’s 31st annual Pride celebration including theater performances, a “Pride concert” and a “fun run.”

The Diversionary Theatre’s ongoing Confessions of a Mormon Boy, which runs Thursdays to Sundays through Aug. 21, gives audiences a solo performance written by ex-Mormon Steven Fales. The touring production frames a gay man’s failed attempt to overcome his same-sex attraction through reparative therapy before finding himself excommunicated from the Mormon Church upon coming out. Pride-goers receive $2 off the regular ticket price when presenting their festival ticket stubs at the box office. For a list of showtimes, call the theater at (619) 220-6830.

A powerful five-group concert titled “Imagine” is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 28, at the University Christian Church, located at 3909 Cleveland Ave. The concert will feature the San Diego Men’s Chorus, the Gay Men’s Chorus of San Diego, the San Diego Women’s Chorus, In aChord and the Hillcrest Wind Ensemble, all of which will perform separately and then together. The cost is $10. Tickets are available at the door or through any of the performing groups.

The annual “Run and Stride With Pride,” presented by Front Runners and Walkers of San Diego, will kick off at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 30, at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Laurel Street in Balboa Park. Participants of all ages can take part in a “fast” and “flat” 5K run, or a non-competitive 1.5-mile walk.

For more information about pre-Pride events, call the Pride office at (619) 297-7683.

This year’s 31st annual San Diego LGBT Pride parade will feature nearly 170 contingents and floats from a broad spectrum of GLBT and mainstream communities. The mile-long parade, which remains San Diego’s largest civic event, kicks off at 11:00 a.m. from the corner of Normal Street and University Avenue. The procession travels west on University and then turns south down Sixth Avenue to Upas Street.

Making its debut to the parade as well as the airwaves is here! TV, a gay television network. Actor Chad Allen, who portrays a gay detective in the network’s original series “Third Man Out,” will join the contingency and appear at the network’s festival booth. The new here! network is available through Cox Cable, which will also take part in the parade.

Heading off the parade will be the traditional Dykes on Bikes contingent, WomenMoto, followed by the American Veterans for Equal Rights carrying the colors and flags of the GLBT community and the San Diego Gay Rodeo Association bearing the flags of all 50 states.

In addition to a bevy of businesses and community organizations, a full slate of politicians will be seen in the lineup, including state Senator Christine Kehoe, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, City Attorney Mike Aguirre, Chula Vista Mayor Steve Padilla and Brian Barton, who is running for Congress and plans to tote along a live goat at the parade.

This year’s marching contingency of uniformed San Diego police officers includes San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne, and they will be joined by members of the Chula Vista Police Department, the San Diego Fire Department and San Diego Lifeguards.

Greater participation by numerous churches and congregations have come to include All Saints Old Roman Catholic Church, First Unitarian Universalist Church, Pacific Beach United Methodist Church and several Jewish contingents including Temple Emanu-El, J*Pride and congregations Dor Hadash and Beth Israel.

Several new businesses have also entered into the parade, such as Pearson Ford and Plush Puppies Kennel and Day Care Center. Additionally, Glaceau Vitamin Water and Metro Mint will be handing out samples of their “water alternatives” along the parade route, while Sparkletts will give away free festival tickets at the festival main gate in Balboa Park to those who sign up for water service.

For more information about San Diego LGBT Pride weekend, call (619) 297-7683 or visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com for a link to the Pride Web site.

The Center’s Positive Action program will host a four-week educational course called “Positive Living,” designed for people living with HIV/AIDS. The course begins on Thursday, Aug. 4, and will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at David’s Coffeehouse, located at 3766 Fifth Ave. in Hillcrest.

“With our ‘Positive Living’ course, we hope to help participants keep their immune systems healthy and live positively by presenting a series of informative and interactive workshops,” said Carolyn Hunt, The Center’s Positive Action coordinator. “Over the four weeks, more than 20 topics will be covered in the workshops, including nutrition, medication, health, depression, communication skills and dealing with stress. All people living with HIV/AIDS are invited to participate.”

There is no fee to attend, but advance registration is required. For more information or to register, contact Carolyn Hunt at (619) 692-2077 ext. 133.

The submission deadline for the “One In Ten Screenplay Contest,” which is dedicated to the positive portrayal of the GLBT community in film, is Sept. 1.

Last year over 250 screenplays were submitted to the contest from around the world. The contest continues to gain momentum and interest from Hollywood studios, producers and agents. Winners receive cash and prizes, and the best of the winning screenplays are submitted to Hollywood agents, studios and producers. The winners will be announced on Nov. 15.

For a complete list of contest rules, submission guidelines and entry forms, visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com for a link to their Web site, or call Mike Dean at (303) 629-3072 for more information.