Pride credits Police Chief William Lansdowne and Mayor Jerry Sanders with taking swift action. Unknown to many of the celebrants inside the festival, homophobia rears its ugly head as three men go on a gay-bashing rampage near the festival grounds: six men are attacked with baseball bats. This scrutiny and criticism from vocal members of the community has a big effect on the Pride organization and many members of the board of directors and a number of staff and volunteers resign.Ģ006: Tracy Jarman, a Lesbian becomes San Diego’s first female fire chief. The Supreme Court declares sodomy laws to be unconstitutional.Ģ004: Pride celebrates 30 years of Pride.Ģ005: One of the biggest crises in Pride’s history takes place when anti-Gay/ex-Gay crusader James Hartline releases his research to the press indicating that two of the volunteers for Pride were registered sex offenders. A vibrant young woman, she helped take Pride to the next level during her time with the organization.Ģ003: The first Latino Pride and Ebony Pride take place on August and September, respectively. In October, former Pride Executive Director Mandy Schultz loses her life in an automotive accident. For the first time, the Pride program is a bilingual publication, written in both English and Spanish. Kehoe is elected to the state Assembly her City Council seat is won by Toni Atkins.Ģ001: Bonnie Dumanis is elected district attorney, the first openly gay or Lesbian top prosecutor in the nation.
Eventually the parade continues.Ģ000: Proposition 22, which restricts marriage to a man and a woman, is approved in California. The parade is temporarily disrupted while people receive medical care and the police investigate the scene. Chaos ensues as people rush to get away from the danger. President Bill Clinton signs “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding LGB military services members.ġ995: First Tijuana Pride Parade takes place with the support of San Diego community leaders.ġ997: Attendance at the annual Pride festival reaches 100,000.ġ998: The city’s 1966 cross-dressing law is repealed.ġ999: During the parade, a tear gas bomb was thrown into the crown near 10th Street and University Avenue. A year later, the Gay Health Clinic opens.ġ985: First Lesbian and Gay appointees Susan Jester and Brad Truax are appointed to government advisory boards.ġ986: Mayor Maureen O’Connor is the first elected official in San Diego to March in a Pride Parade.ġ987: The Lesbian and Gay Historical Society of San Diego, now known as the Lambda Archives, is established to preserve and teach our history.ġ988: The AIDS Memorial Quilt comes to San Diego.ġ991: Openly Gay and Lesbian police officers march in the Pride Parade.ġ993: Christine Kehoe becomes the first openly Lesbian San Diegan elected to City Council. Al Best becomes the first openly Gay person to run for San Diego City Council, finishing fifth.ġ981: Two San Diegans are diagnosed with the mysterious illness striking the Gay community - what we now call AIDS.
Two hundred people marched, some wearing bags on their heads.ġ975: The first permit is granted for a Gay Pride parade and rally in San Diego.ġ979: San Diego Police announce they will hire Gay and Lesbian officers. 1974: Unable to secure a parade permit from the city, the newly formed Center for Social Center (what we now know as SD Pride) held a Pride event that included a charity yard sale, potluck dinner and a defiant unofficial march of protest.