San Francisco's 50th annual
LGBT Pride Parade and celebration scheduled for June 27-28 has been
canceled.
San Francisco Pride, which organizes
the annual festival, said on Tuesday that it acted out of public
safety as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread in the United
States.
“This was not a decision we arrived
at lightly,” said San Francisco Pride Executive Director Fred
Lopez. "Far from it: Our staff has been in frequent talks with
our board, our production team, our partners at many departments of
City Hall, officials at other Pride organizations worldwide – and
most of all, our LGBTQ communities. We have heard from people who
urged us to cancel, and from those who implored us not to."
San Francisco Pride board President
Carolyn Wysinger added: “We know what Pride symbolizes for San
Francisco – and the LGBTQ+ people around the world. We know our
decision means disappointment, canceled plans and one less thing for
us all to look forward to. We also know that protecting the safety of
all our communities is the most important.”
The organization said that San
Francisco Pride would instead participate in “Virtual Global Pride”
on Saturday, June 27.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed
applauded the decision to cancel Pride this year.
“We must do everything we can to
protect our entire community and put public health first,” Breed
said in a statement. “San Francisco will emerge from this pandemic
stronger than ever.”