The second annual People’s March—an alternative to the Pride Parade that was launched last year as an expression of LGBTQ protest—on Sun/27 was full of the same purpose, and killer looks, as last year. This time, however, the route was changed to hew closer to the path of the original 1970 gay liberation march, along Polk Street from Sacramento Street to the Civic Center, through what was once a thriving gay neighborhood. (The original march, which then marked “Christopher Street Liberation Day” in commemoration of the Stonewall Riots, had started in Aquatic Park.)
The People’s March is the brainchild of drag activists Alex U. Inn and Juanita More, this year joined at the head of it all by San Francisco Emperors John Weber and Leandro Gonzales. Photographer Gooch caught the colorful scene, which included chanting, dancing, and speeches at the Civic Center.
Historian Gerard Koskovich of the GLBT History Museum, who co-curated the online exhibit “Labor Of Love: The Birth Of San Francisco Pride, 1970–1980,” posted this interesting item from the Los Angeles Advocate newspaper (which later became the famed Advocate magazine) about the original march, and the picnic that followed it in Golden Gate Park. A fitting remembrance!
