San Diego kicked off its Pride Week on Saturday with She Fest. Local and state leaders quoted Dolly Parton and President John F. Kennedy to set the mood.
State Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins spoke about widespread animosity against the LGBTQ community and thought the country singer’s nationwide billboards — “Find the Good in Everybody. Kindness” — carried a fitting message.
Also referencing an anti-gay and anti-trans climate, she quoted the slain president as saying, “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”
But the atmosphere at the 9th annual event near the Pride Flag in Hillcrest centered on friendship, acceptance and making connections.
“It’s just amazing,” said She Fest co-chair Zaide Jurado, who enjoyed seeing happy people feel a sense of home with others amid the music and food.
Throughout the year, she said, her committee offers workshops and activities such as the popular queer speed-friending.
The organization helps area members socialize, connect and build community to meet their needs and support LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary people. They also pair with groups to provide support systems that people may need.
San Diego Pride continues with “Light Up the Cathedral” at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral at 7 p.m. Wednesday; Pride Block Party at 4 p.m. Thursday and 2 p.m. Friday; the Pride Parade at 10 a.m. Saturday at University Avenue and Normal Streets; and the pride festival at Sixth and Laurel beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday and Sunday.
She Fest is the signature event of the year to highlight LGBTQ business and entertainment.
San Diego Councilwoman Jen Campbell hailed a “wonderful day for all the women in the LGBT community.” ”
Despite political and cultural opposition from some sectors of society, “you’ve got to keep hope because we have been through so many years of fighting,” she told Times of San Diego. “We finally got our rights — some of them — and now we have to fight to keep them.”
A state proposition will be put on the ballot to nullify Proposition 8, the 2008 measure banning gay marriage (but overturned by the courts), Campbell said.
“We’ve got to get it out of there because we’ve got to keep California strong,” she said. “We have to keep fighting forever.”
Atkins told the crowd that more that anti LGBTQ+ bills exceed 500 across the country, but not in California.
“We’re here to celebrate us, each and every one of us in our incredible, beautiful diversity,” said Atkins, who on Saturday was acting governor. “That’s what makes our community strong.”
California has led the way on gender-affirming legislation, she said — “a beacon for so many.”
Atkins said state LGBTQ+ supportive acts were written because that community’s members are “at the table.”
In her Virginia upbringing, Atkins said, she attended Bible-related activities frequently and learned “good people exist everywhere, regardless of our religion, the color of our skin … and it’s up to us to spread the message of love and kindness.”
Before the speech, Atkins said in an interview that she thought the Republican Party was using LGBTQ+ people for political gain.
“You know, we have such an incredible community, and the fact that there would be so much hate directed at our trans siblings and kids,” Atkins said. “It just pains me because we had come so far. We were making strides, and this is such a backlash against our incredible community.”
But Atkins believes animosity toward gay people will fail in the end because more and more people are accepting of the LGBTQ+ community.
“We’ll beat it back,” she said. “We will.”
Atkins recalls that when she came out gay to her parents in that conservative part of the country, they didn’t understand it, but “they loved me.”
“I keep up my spirits because I know there are people like my mom and dad out there,” Atkins told Times of San Diego. “I know that we exist in all corners of this country.”
She Fest co-chair Jurado said of her community: “I think that it’s a safe space. It’s a safe space for me. It’s finding home.”
With tears in her eyes, she added: “It’s finding somewhere I belong … and I’m making a difference.”