Women in San Diego are taking to the streets during Pride weekend for the ninth annual Dyke March on Sunday, July 30.

A rally begins outside The Center, located at 3909 Centre St. in Hillcrest, at 1:00 p.m., with opening remarks by Abby Schwartz (a.k.a. MC Flow), Margot Kelley, Laura Jane and others. From there, participants will march to the Pride festival.

The purpose of San Diego Dyke March is to increase the visibility of the dyke community (lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer) and provide a positive space for dyke communication, political education and empowerment.

For more information, e-mail dykemarch@carambola.org or log on to www.myspace.com/sandiegodykemarch.

The Center has formed a new group, “So You Want to Get Off and Stay Off Meth” that will meet weekly on Thursdays from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. All groups will meet at The Center’s Health Services, which is located at 2313 El Cajon Blvd.

This group is for meth users with less than one year of sobriety. HIV-positive individuals who have used meth are also encouraged to attend.

The group will be facilitated by Dr. Michael Majeski, and donations will be accepted. An intake appointment is required and can be scheduled by calling Michelle Morrison at (619) 260-6380 ext. 105.

Danni Pomplun has teamed with the UCSD AIDS Research Institute to organize a benefit birthday barbecue at Bourbon Street that will raise funds for new studies and medication related to HIV/AIDS.

The barbecue takes place from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 22, at Bourbon Street, located at 4612 Park Blvd. in University Heights. Music will be spun by Schugar. Proceeds will benefit the UCSD AIDS Research Institute.

For more information, call (619) 291-4043.

Meth, a provocative new documentary film about crystal methamphetamine use among gay men, will premiere as part of a forum designed to engage a dialogue among San Diego’s gay and bisexual community.

A free screening of the film by director Todd Ahlberg will take place on Friday, July 21, at Kung Food at 8:00 p.m. as the official launch event for www.knowcrystal.org, “Information without Judgment,” a community-based Web site targeting gay male crystal methamphetamine users and their families.

The documentary takes an unflinching, provocative look at past and present gay users. Ahlberg gained remarkable access to their lives, their drug use and a “party and play” sex event popular among users.

Methamphetamine is feeding a resurgence of syphilis, gonorrhea and HIV infections among gay and bisexual men nationwide. In San Diego, syphilis infection rates among gay and bisexual men have increased tenfold since 1999. Thirty-eight percent of gay or bisexual men diagnosed with syphilis in 2004 reported using crystal meth, an increase from 22 percent in 2003. Public health and substance abuse experts agree that meth use has not only increased its grip on gay men, but is now considered a leading culprit behind an upswing in new infections of HIV and hepatitis C.

The evening will include a DJ spinning downtempo music and special live performances in addition to the screening. Wine and beer will be available for purchase. There will also be computers connected to the Internet to view the knowcrystal.org Web site.

The trailer for the movie can be viewed at www.methmovie.com. Kung Food is located at 2949 Fifth Ave. Call (619) 990-6069 for more information.

The next San Diego PFLAG meeting will take place at the First Unitarian Universalist Church at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, July 24.

The meeting will consist of support groups followed by a cookie social and a presentation by Joey Ramelli and Megan Donovan, who sued the Poway Unified School District for failing to take action to protect them from severe harassment by other students at the school and won the lawsuit last year.

Ramelli and Donovan will speak about their experiences, and how they learned to cope and eventually fight back. The First Unitarian Universalist Church is located at 4190 Front St. Hillcrest.

Call (619) 579-7640 for more information.

The San Diego Men’s Chorus, In aChord, the San Diego Women’s Chorus, the Gay Men’s Chorus of San Diego and the Hillcrest Wind Ensemble will join together for the 2006 Pride concert, entitled “No Turning Back.”

The performance features the Zulu chant “One By One” along with Eric Lane Barnes’ “Pansies Everywhere You Go” and the official chorus anthem, “I Will Be Your Brother.” The finale features “Circle of Life” from The Lion King.

The net proceeds from this concert traditionally go to local GLBT and HIV/AIDS service organizations. This year, a portion of the funds will go to The Center’s Youth Housing Project, as well as other organizations.

The concert will take place on Thursday, July 27, at 7:30 p.m. at the North Park Theatre, located at 2891 University Ave. Tickets are $25. Call (619) 239-8836 or visit www.e-ticketsnow.com to purchase tickets.

San Diego LGBT Pride welcomes four grand marshals into its 32nd annual Pride parade, scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 29, along University Avenue through the heart of Hillcrest.

Early activist Judy Reif will serve as Pride’s community grand marshal. Her activism dates back to 1970 in New York City, when she helped promote the nation’s first Pride march a year after the famous Stonewall riots occurred in Greenwich Village. Reif also became active in the Gay Liberation Front at that time while helping to organize GLBT dances, cultural performances, small press publications and a lesbian food co-op in an era when health food stores were rare.

After arriving to San Diego some 30 years ago, she became active with Lesbians for Political Action, co-produced concerts by the San Diego Women’s Chorus and coordinated Shirttails women’s dances. Reif also served on the San Diego LGBT Pride board from 1994 to 1999. She currently works as a fitness instructor and also teaches classes for the seniors groups Exercise 4 Life and Silver Sneakers.

“Our annual Pride event is dear to my heart. I came out after listening to the Stonewall riot broadcast live on PBS radio on June 27, 1969,” she recalls.

Reif will be joined at the head of the parade by three celebrity grand marshals who will also take to the Jack FM stage at the Spirit of Stonewall rally, which is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Friday, July 28, at Marston Point in Balboa Park.

Neil Giuliano is the president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and served four terms as an openly gay mayor of Tempe, Ariz. A longtime “mover and shaker” in his home state, he helped implement numerous non-discrimination policies based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Arizona and is profiled in the book Trailblazers: Stories of America’s Openly Gay Officials.

Recording artist Juba Kalamka (a.k.a. Pointfivefag) brings to the parade his national celebrity as a founding member of the “homo-hop” crew Deep Dickollective. He is lauded for his thought-provoking dialogues on issues of race, class and sexuality in pop culture, and is the curator for PeaceOUT World HomoHop Festival in San Francisco.

Rounding out the grand marshal lineup is the Rev. Troy D. Perry, who founded Metropolitan Community Church of Los Angeles in 1968. Throughout his involvement with the organization, he has helped keep the church a welcoming place for GLBT individuals rejected by other religious communities. There are now 300 Metropolitan Community Churches across the world.

The mile-long parade kicks of at 11:00 a.m. on July 29 from University Avenue at Normal Street. It traverses west on University and then turns south on Sixth Avenue to Ivy Lane. Pride’s two-day festival in Balboa Park begins the same day, from 12:00 noon to 10:00 p.m., and continuing from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 30.

For more information, call the Pride office at (619) 297-7683 or visit the Pride Web site, www.sdpride.org.