Rainbow Fever :: 40 Years of San Diego Pride

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The orange in our community's rainbow flag will take on greater prominence this month, as trans actress Laverne Cox helps to jump-start San Diego's annual Pride celebration. The award-winning breakout star of Netflix's prison-set story "Orange is the New Black" will serve as keynote speaker at the Spirit of Stonewall Rally at 6 p.m. on Friday, July 18.

Cox plays Sophia Burset, an incarcerated African-American trans woman and is the first trans woman of color to have a leading role on a mainstream scripted TV show. Time Magazine recently named Sophia one of the most influential fictional characters in current media. Cox's words to those gathered on Friday will surely be as inspiring as her role on the series.

If Cox's participation in San Diego Pride isn't enough for "Orange is the New Black" fans, one of her co-stars will be closing out events that same Friday evening. Taryn Manning, aka Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett, is set to DJ and will perform songs from her latest album at the third annual Pride of Hillcrest Block Party. The official kickoff party for Pride weekend will start right after the rally, running from 7 to 11:30 p.m. Additional celebrity appearances, local DJs, carnival rides and go-go dancers will be in the mix. Discounted pre-sale tickets are available now at prideblockparty.com

It has been 45 years since the Stonewall riots launched the modern LGBT movement during the summer of 1969. This year also marks the 40th anniversary of San Diego Pride, which launched with a mere 200 men and women marching through downtown in 1974. While some of them wore bags over their heads to protect their identities, they nevertheless courageously defied the police sergeant in charge at the time, who had declared "A homosexual march will never be held in San Diego!"

Today, San Diego's Pride Parade attracts more than 300,000 participants and spectators, making it the largest civic event in the city of San Diego and the 4th largest Pride parade in the U.S.

Four longstanding LGBT organizations will be honored as Community Grand Marshals and "Pioneers of Pride" during the 2014 parade that kicks off at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 19 near the intersection of University Avenue and Normal Street. They are: The San Diego LGBT Community Center, the roots of which began in a utility closet in 1971; Dignity San Diego, an outreach ministry to LGBT Catholics established in 1973; Imperial Court de San Diego, which has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to local charities since the early 1970s; and the Metropolitan Community Church, which established its local congregation in 1970.

Other LGBT leaders and advocates to be honored during this year's parade are out California State Assembly Speaker, Toni Atkins (Grand Marshal); both Vincent "Vinnie" Pompei, director of the Youth Well- Being Project at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and Lisa Mata, Human Rights Campaign San Diego (Champions of Pride); Patti Boman (Friend of Pride), Co-President of the San Diego chapter of Parents & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG); Empress Candi Samples (Community Service) and the Lambda Archives (Stonewall Service Award).

Two Inspirational Couples have also been named as honorees. Danielle LoPresti and Alicia Champion have been partners as well as local community leaders for the past decade. Both have entertainment backgrounds and joined forces to renew San Diego's music scene by establishing the popular, now-annual IndieFest. The other couple, Jonathan and Dwayne D. Beebe-Franqui, garnered considerable media attention for Dwayne's unexpected marriage proposal to Jonathan while the pair was marching as part of the first-ever Military Contingent during 2012's San Diego Pride parade. They are now married, the fathers of two children and active members of the American Military Partners Association (AMPA).

Once the parade is over, Pride festivities will be only just beginning. The annual Music Festival at Marston Point in Balboa Park is to be held from noon to 10 p.m. on Saturday, July 19 and again from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday, July 20. Weekend passes are only $20 each, with children 15 and under admitted free when accompanied by a parent or adult guardian, now available for purchase at sdpride.org. The festival features a Children's Garden full of entertainment, games and fun activities for pre-teens, as well as a special music-filled Youth Zone for those ages 14-18.

There will be several new additions to this year's festival apart from such time-honored traditions as the Art of Pride exhibition, a variety of dance stages, free HIV testing, the exploratory Leather Realm, cool zones for Seniors and abundant beverage gardens selling alcoholic and alcohol-free drinks (a Sobriety Village for those in recovery and needing support will also again be present). New to the fest are My Big Gay Wedding Expo for those looking to tie the knot, the Bear Country Saloon, a wet and wild Oasis Beach Party featuring surfer-esque go-go guys and gals; and the NASA Destination Station, a multi-media experience that will also serve as the space agency's first official Pride appearance.

All proceeds from admission prices and festival-goer donations fund a number of non-profit agencies. "San Diego Pride has distributed $2,000,000 to organizations serving the LGBT community," reports Stephen Whitburn, Pride's Executive Director. "Still every year, the funds needed exceed what's available." Whitburn encourages those unable to attend San Diego Pride to support the event financially as well, either by texting DONATE to 41444 or online at sdpride.org.

As they do every year, San Diego Pride's organizers have enlisted some big names to perform on the festival's various stages. 2014 performers include teen singing sensation Charice, R&B chanteuse Deborah Cox, Glee's Alex Newell, Mexican singer America Sierra and, together, EDM's the Perry Twins and Cameron Neilson. There will also be don't-miss concert tributes to Lady Gaga and Britney Spears. The full entertainment lineup and schedule can be found also at sdpride.org.

While orange may be the new black, maybe even the new pink, get out there and flash whatever colors you like at San Diego Pride!