ABC7 celebrates San Francisco Pride 2017

ABC7 is celebrating the achievements of the LGBTQ community #whereyoulive in honor of the upcoming San Francisco Pride week. Click here for more information on the 2017 SF Pride Parade.

6/23/2017: San Jose's First Pride Parade

While the historic San Francisco Pride Parade is internationally known, did you know that the San Jose Pride Parade began just a few short years after San Francisco's first took place? San Jose Pride originally began as a gay rights rally in 1975. The following year, it evolved into the San Jose Gay Pride Festival, which took place downtown in St. James Park. The festival featured political speakers, community booths, and local entertainment. By 1977, San Jose celebrated its very first Gay Pride Parade (pictured here). During the early 1980's, Stockton Street became the home of San Jose Pride. After almost 15 years, the Pride Parade and Festival attendance outgrew Stockton Street and were brought back downtown to Discovery Meadow Park on San Carlos Street in 1995. The festival was eventually renamed to the more area-inclusive Silicon Valley Pride in 2014. Remember to mark your calendars to celebrate with Silicon Valley Pride(@siliconvalleypride) on Sunday, August 27, 2017. Photo courtesy of the San Jose Public Library. #BeInspired #whereyoulive #abc7celebrates #SanJosePride #SiliconValleyPride #BayAreaPride #DiscoveryMeadow #SanJose #SiliconValley #LGBTHistory #Legacy

6/22/2017: Gilbert Baker

Have you noticed the rainbow flags lining Market Street in San Francisco in anticipation of the LGBT Pride Parade this Sunday? Or perhaps you or your neighbors are displaying a rainbow flag in your yard in honor of Pride Month. All of those rainbow flags can be traced back to one incredible man - Gilbert Baker. He passed away earlier this year, but his legacy will live on forever. Baker worked as a flag maker and artist after arriving in San Francisco during the height of the gay liberation movement in the early 1970s. He was approached by San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1972 to create something positive for the gay community to rally around and to take the place of the pink triangle used by the Nazis to identify homosexuals. Inspired, Baker began working on a flag. He dyed the fabrics himself and, with the help of volunteers, stitched together strips of bright colors into a huge banner: red for life, orange for healing, yellow for the sun, green for nature, turquoise blue for serenity, and purple for spirit. Baker said, "The flag is an action - it's more than just the cloth and the stripes. When a person puts the Rainbow Flag on his car or his house, they're not just flying a flag. They're taking action." The flag has become the international symbol of gay pride, hope, and tolerance. In memory of Baker's legacy an historical exhibit about the rainbow flag is to debut next year in the San Francisco International Airport for the flag's 40th anniversary. #BeInspired #whereyoulive #abc7celebrates #GilbertBaker #RainbowFlag #HarveyMilk #SanFrancisco #Rainbow #LGBTHistory #SFPride #Legacy #PinkTriangle #LGBTActivist #SFO

6/21/2107: Harvey Milk

LGBT icon Harvey Milk moved to San Francisco from New York in 1972 and opened a shop, Castro Camera, in the heart of the city's gay community on Castro Street. As the shop became a hot spot, Milk found his voice as a leader and activist. He soon became known as the "Mayor of Castro Street." And in 1977, after several unsuccessful campaigns, Harvey's determination won him a seat on the San Francisco City-County Board, making him the first openly gay individual to be elected to office. Tragically, he only served 11 months before he was shot and killed by Dan White, another city supervisor. Anne Kronenberg, his final campaign manager, later said, "What set Harvey apart from you or me was that he was a visionary. He imagined a righteous world inside his head and then he set about to create it for real, for all of us." Photo courtesy of Daniel Nicoletta. #BeInspired #whereyoulive #abc7celebrates #LGBTQPride #LGBTQ #HarveyMilk #SanFrancisco #CastroCamera #GayIcon #CastroStreet #AnneKronenberg #LGBTHistory #SFPride

6/20/17: The Pacific Center, Berkeley

Founded in 1973, The Pacific Center for Human Growth is the oldest LGBTQ center in the Bay Area that nurtures and enriches the well-being and self-respect of the LGBTQ community. The Center provides services for Alameda County and greater East Bay. They aid over 4,000 people a year and operate the only sliding-scale mental health clinic in the Alameda County for LGBTQ individuals and their families. The Pacific Center is dedicated to cultivating programs that provide mental health support for HIV+ men, youth services and peer support groups. ABC7 celebrates The Pacific Center for their commitment to diversity and inclusiveness! Photo courtesy of the Pacific Center. #BeInspired #whereyoulive #abc7celebrates #LGBTQPride #LGBTQ #PacificCenterforHumanGrowth #PacificCenter #Berkeley #AlamedaCounty #HIV #PeerCounseling #EastBay #MentalHealth

6/19/17: Leanne Pittsford, Lesbians Who Tech

Meet Leanne Pittsford (@lepitts) - entrepreneur, technologist, risk taker and founder of Lesbians Who Tech(@lwtech) and the Edie Windsor Coding Scholarship. She has built a global community of over 25,000 queer women and allies in the tech community. Pittsford's passions for equality and diversity have helped increase representation among women and lesbian's in technology across the Bay Area and the country. This year, the Edie Windsor Coding scholarship for queer women who want to learn how to code is aiming to give 50 queer and gender nonconforming women a coding education- and you can help! A matching grant challenge of $150,000 has been issued from (@twilio) if LWT can raise $100,000 for the Scholarship by the beginning of July. To learn more and support this campaign visit lesbianswhotech.org/codingscholarship/give. Photo courtesy of Lesbians Who Tech. #BeInspired #whereyoulive #abc7celebrates #LGBTQPride #LGBTQ #LeannePittsford #LesbiansWhoTech #EdieWindsorCodingScholarship #LWT #Twilio #EdieWindsor #LWTEdie #Lesbian #QueerCoders #WomenInTech

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