Downtown San José Market Street bursted with life and color this Sunday as thousands of people gathered for the Silicon Valley Pride Parade and Festival.
Silicon Valley Pride is a nonprofit, volunteer-run organization that hosts LGBTQ+ community events in the Silicon Valley area all year long, including a two day festival and parade in late August, according to the Silicon Valley Pride Website.
Saldy Suriben, the chief marketing officer for Silicon Valley Pride, began volunteering for the organization in 2014 after looking for a way to give back to the community.
“We don't get paid to do this type of work. We're just here to support the LGBT community to be their authentic selves,” Suriben said.
He said the parade’s theme this year is “Get Loud,” a call to action to the queer community and allies to vote, organize and to use their voice to celebrate as well as advocate.
The parade was set up on the blacktop hill of Coleman Avenue and along Julian Street, with hundreds of people preparing vehicles and floats to represent over 100 organizations.
The parade featured conglomerates like Amazon and local organizations like the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center, a grassroots organization and community space for queer people of all ages in San José.
Gabrielle Antolovich, board president of the Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center, has worked at the community center for over 30 years and marched at Pride in San José since 1990.
“I'm excited that there are a lot of young people who it's their first Pride,” Antolovich said. “We're doing it for them as well as doing it for us.”
They said marching at Pride for is a reminder that they are not alone.
“It doesn't matter how good you feel about yourself, to be surrounded by your own people is really important,” Antolovich said. “That's why I'm dedicated to the work of the Billy DeFrank Center because we get to be together every single day to reaffirm who we are.”
The parade began moving at approximately 11:05 a.m., converging onto Market Street for the half-mile march to Plaza de César Chávez.
As groups made their way down the parade route, cheers erupted from either side of the street as onlookers expressed support.
Vanessa Crawford is a local community member who lives on Market Street and has been showing up to support Silicon Valley Pride for seven years.
She waved a rainbow Mexican flag alongside her daughter as she cheered on the parade this year.
“It's important for people who are in the community to know like, ‘Hey, there's a bunch of allies,’ ” Crawford said. “Here's a bunch of people out here who will support you no matter what.”
The SJSU Marching Band rallied the crowd during the middle of the parade as they escorted the SJSU Pride Center, serving as the university’s representatives.
Bonnie Sugiyama, the director for SJSU’s Pride Center, has been a part of Silicon Valley Pride since the Pride Center was created and said she’s seen a diversification in the groups invited to the parade and festival.
“This is the third year we've had the marching band and just their participation in it like this always kicks it up a notch, and they're awesome,” Sugiyama said.
Sugiyama also mentioned the presence of SJSU students and alumni at Silicon Valley Pride and the importance of having solidarity with the SJSU queer community through participating in the parade.
“It's a fun thing to do to bring visibility to the community, and specifically the San José State community,” Sugiyama said. “We do have a Pride Center on campus, so we do have LGBTQ+ campus life,”
Pride celebration in San José began in 1975 as a rally organized by SJSU students, adopting many different names and venues throughout the years before becoming Silicon Valley Pride in 2014, according to Queer Silicon Valley.
Suriben said in its 49th year, Silicon Valley Pride attendance continues to increase.
“We tended to have maybe like, 2,000 to 5,000 attendees,” he said. “I would say last year we had between 15,000 to 20,000 attendees, and we hope to keep growing.”
As the last group of marchers reached the end of the line for the parade, participants and onlookers flocked into Plaza de César Chávez to attend the Silicon Valley Pride’s vibrant festival activities.
Inside the blocked-off plaza, sprawls of local vendors and tabling organizations filled the space while performances occurred simultaneously across the festival’s main stage, “Hey Girl” stage and “The Unknown” stage.
While a kink fashion show was heating up on one side of the festival, local drag performers were taking over the main stage on the other side to lead crowd choreography of Chappell Roan’s “HOT TO GO!”
One of the performers was Catinni P. Vanden, a drag artist who has been performing in San José for seven years.
“I want people to forget what's going on outside of these walls and just be in the moment and have fun,” Vanden said.
She said Pride ultimately represents the celebration of inclusivity and the continuing fight for civil rights.
“I always say, there's never a break from pushing for equality,” Vanden said. “When we are here at Pride, yes, we're enjoying some fun, but we're also connecting as a community and becoming a tighter community to come together outside of this and fight together to end racism, transphobia, misogyny, the whole nine yards. It's all connected.”
