This year the Gay & Lesbian Times is happy to be redundant when introducing you to San Diego Pride weekend: Last year and the year before, we’ve celebrated how far the GLBT community has come since its first Pride parade in the late ’70s, and the last 365 days have seen, once again, amazing progress for our community.

Spain legalized same-sex marriage on June 30, and eight days ago Canada did, too. Pair that up with the Netherlands and Belgium, which already allow same-sex marriage, and that’s four down, a little more than 200 to go.

In the U.S., the future of marriage equality is best categorized as a tug-of-war. Since last summer, we’ve helped defeat the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment, but we also saw 13 states pass constitutional bans on same-sex marriage in the November elections, and another version of the FMA was recently introduced in Congress. Connecticut passed civil unions legislation, but supreme courts in Oregon and California voided thousands of marriage licenses issued to same-sex couples by upstart county clerks and their bosses. And in California, as in other parts of the country, ballot initiatives seeking to ban any possibility of marriage equality and strip us of the rights we have already gained are racking up signatures right now.

So do we still need Pride celebrations? Hell yes. As we slowly gain acceptance nationwide, with civil unions the new fall-back for conservative voters and our relationships the topic of conversation at millions of dinner tables across the nation, being visible, comfortable with ourselves and proud of who we are is of the utmost importance in achieving full legal and social equality. We have a long way to go, with many more bigoted laws to overturn and initiatives to squelch, but we will get there.

Whether you’re a lover or a fighter, the single most important way you can contribute to our community’s civil rights movement is to be out to everyone you know. So get out there this weekend and show the world that we are a big, proud amalgam of conservatives, liberals, computer geeks, punks, PTA parents, codgers, activists, entertainers, politicians, construction workers, executive directors, meter maids, fry cooks and next-door neighbors.

We’ve said it before, but in the spirit of redundancy, we’ll say it again: In San Diego’s first official Pride parade in 1974, some marchers were so afraid of retaliation yet so determined to make their numbers known that they marched wearing paper bags over their heads. But still they marched, and their bravery paved the way for every single right we have today. Don’t forget them, and be proud of who you are. What will next year bring?

• Grand Marshal: Ben Dillingham
• Grand Marshal: Michael ‘Big Mike’ Phillips
• Grand Marshal: Alice A. Huffman
• Grand Marshal: Joseph ‘Joey’ Ramelli and Megan Donovan
• Champion of Pride: Dr. William ‘Bill’ Beck
• Champion of Pride: Jennifer LeSar
• Friend of the Year: Marc Chery
• Community Service Award: Todd Gloria
• Community Service Award: Linda Childers
• Community Service Award: Cathy Hemphill
• Stonewall Service Award: KPBS-TV

• Pride Parade Lineup and Route (PDF)
• Pride Festival Entertainment and Main Stage Lineups (PDF)
• Pride Festival Map and Vendors (PDF)

All Pride award recipients will be honored at the annual Spirit of Stonewall rally, taking place this year on Friday, July 29, on the Pride festival grounds at Marston Point in Balboa Park at 7:00 p.m. The rally’s keynote speaker is Assemblymember Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, lead author of the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act that failed in the Assembly last month but has been reintroduced in the state Senate. Call the Pride office at (619) 297-7683 for more information.