On Saturday, San Francisco's Civic Center hosts a massive pride celebration with food, music, dancing and a street fair. Sunday is the finale, the city's 43rd annual pride march. It usually brings out more than 1 million participants and observers. 'This year we're expecting the largest crowd we've ever had - 1.4 million people,' said Earl Plante, CEO of San Francisco Pride, the organization that puts on the weekend's events. The parade marks the anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City - several nights of demonstrations at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village that began June 28, 1969.
It was one of the first times that gay men and lesbians stood up to police harassment and is considered a watershed moment in the fight for gay rights in the United States.Īctivists knew the ruling might come be close to pride weekend, said Stuart Gaffney,media director at Marriage Equality USA, a group pushing for gay marriage.
