My Pal Wim

Pride™ Parade

My little Belgian pal Wim got to my place a little later than we hoped for, but I wasn't worried about missing too much of the parade. The event usually lasts about four hours so we had plenty of time to make our way to Market Street. We were able to watch a few contingents before heading down to the Civic Center for the other festivities.

Polynesian Parading

The first contingent we saw was some sort of Polynesian group. Their colourful costumes and tribal drums served as a great welcome to the event

Out of the Closet

This contingent featured trucks used by a charity shop called, Out of the Closet. It's a thrift store that raises money for aids charities. They have one store in SF but had three big trucks in the Parade.

Misc Banner People

We couldn't really read this banner. I was thinking it was demanding equal rights for alcoholics with a slogan that said, "Cosmopolitans are Martini's too!"

Sober Not Somber

This contingent certainly wasn't confused about their message.

Immigration Rights

Considering the recent turn of events regarding the federal status of gay and lesbian Americans, this group working for equal immigration rights has come one step closer to achieving their goals. Needless to say, the crowd was cheering and very supportive.

Gay Marriage

With their issue making this week's cover of Newsweek, this contingent got a lot of attention.

The biggest Gay Issue of the day: DISCO

Looming larger than all of the other political issues was the issue of what to dance to. This float was sponsored by Washington Mutual and I took this photo as it passed in front of one of their branches. The giant disco ball and dancers added some much needed relief from all of the politically based contingents.