Pride festival brings thousands to Santa Rosa

Thousands of rainbow-clad Sonoma County locals and visitors descended Saturday morning on Santa Rosa, transforming Old Courthouse Square into a sea of pulsing sound and color.

Families mingled with drag queens and cosplayers as they watched local businesses, organizations and public officials parade by on colorful floats or in coordinated dances. Later, they snacked on fried festival food and perused booths offering art, clothing and trinkets.

The drizzle could not dampen the festivities nor did the handful of protesters on the periphery, a small reminder of heightening anti-gay and anti-transgender political momentum nationwide.

It was among the largest gatherings the county has seen in recent years with the pandemic, and the first full, in-person Pride festival here since 2019.

The annual festival is part of Pride Month, commemorating the Stonewall Inn uprising, a series of demonstrations in 1969 that followed a police raid at the popular gay bar in New York City. Those demonstrations were seen as a catalyst for the gay rights movement, though it built on earlier activism by the LGBTQ+ community in the U.S.

The celebration, mostly halted by the coronavirus pandemic, has been urgently missed in the North Bay, organizers, performers and attendees agreed.

“A lot of folks are telling me, this is the first Pride where they actually get to be out (as LGBTQ+), which is such a big deal. For the last couple years, they’ve missed out on that,” said Grace Villafuerte, vice president of Sonoma County Pride, which coordinated the Saturday event.

This year’s theme, “We Are Family,” was befitting, she said, because the event felt like a massive family reunion.

Festivities began with groups gathering just northeast of downtown Santa Rosa for the 11 a.m. parade toward the square.

The procession included organizations like the Sonoma County Democratic Party, Cesar Chavez Language Academy, North Bay LGBTQI Families, the Graton street band Hubbub Club and others. Public safety agencies like the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office and Santa Rosa Police Department participated with lights flashing.

Other groups came from elsewhere in the Bay Area, like Cheer San Francisco, an LGBTQ+ cheerleading squad; and San Francisco Dykes on Bikes, a lesbian motorcycle group. Ensamble Folclórico Colibrí, an LGBTQ+ Mexican folk dancing group from San Jose, was awarded “Best Use of Theme” by the parade judges for their vibrant skirts and rhythmic zapateado.

Amy Schneider, 40-time champion of “Jeopardy,” served as the parade’s grand marshal, while the event honorees, including Healdsburg Mayor Ozzy Jimenez, drove in convertibles between floats, waving at families flanking Fourth Street. Rep. Mike Thompson, Sheriff Mark Essick and candidates for local office in the upcoming June 7 primary were also among the participants.

“Have you ever seen a Pride festival this big?” asked Brent Farris, one of the parade’s masters of ceremonies, over his microphone. “This is huge. This is just massive.”

Santa Rosa police and event organizers estimated the number of attendees ranged from 3,000 to 5,000, though some felt there were more.

Following the parade, attendees watched music and dance performances on a large stage in the grass of Old Courthouse Square, drank strawberry lemonade and ate corn dogs and snow cones. Vendors displayed art, and organizations told passersby about their services. At least four booths sold tie-dye colored apparel.

For some attendees and volunteers, the event was their first taste of Pride in Sonoma County.

Tiesa Meskis, who helped coordinate the parade lineup, was excited to volunteer after moving to the area in March.

“As I came out as trans last year, it’s been especially important for me to really do what I can for the different Pride organizations and the different inclusivity organizations wherever I am,” Meskis said.

For Mark Brand and his husband Mark Suber, Saturday’s Pride event — their first in Sonoma County — was bigger than the ones they attended back home in Oakland.

Others were North Bay residents, eager to finally return to the local Pride festival.

Lolita Hernandez, a local drag performer who served as one of the parade judges, said she wanted to come out one last time before she moves to Arizona for graduate school. “Just to see the family, the community, the camaraderie, I was almost crying on stage.”

“It’s really great to have it back here — we need something to celebrate in this country in a big way,” said Bruce Berkowitz with Congregation Shomrei Torah.

Rosio Perez, who attended with her mother, Rosa, and daughter, Leticia, agreed. “We’ve had some rough years these last couple years. As you can see with the crowd here, everybody’s dancing, laughing, smiling, having a good time.”

The massive turnout, commandeering multiple city blocks, was encouraging to many after years of pandemic and a recent wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation introduced across the country like Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, nicknamed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

“I think there’s a lot of attacks right now on gay rights, trans rights, and so it’s really important to show up and let the LGBT community know: we are them, we support them and we will fight for them,” said Alice Jensen with Cheer San Francisco.

Though the protesters holding homophobic signs on an adjacent street corner were outnumbered a thousand to one, organizer Villafuerte said they still left her “on alert.”

“It’s important to have these (events) out in this climate, because in some ways it feels like people are going back to hatred,” she said. “We can’t become complacent.”

You can reach Staff Writer Emily Wilder at 707-521-5337 or emily.wilder@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @vv1lder.