Jun 12, 2025 - History
From the archives: How SF Pride became a cultural footprint
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Some 3,000 people march down Polk Street during the 1972 San Francisco Gay Parade. Photo: Barney Peterson via San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
On June 27, 1970, a group of hippies and "hair fairies" marched on Polk Street and staged a "gay-in" in Golden Gate Park to mark the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, according to the GLBT Historical Society.
Why it matters: It marked San Francisco's first Pride celebration.
State of play: Initially known as Christopher Street West and later Gay Freedom Day, the gathering quickly became an annual event, with attendance growing to 250,000 by 1980.
- The event has traditionally "deployed both frivolity and protest in hopes of initiating a cultural shift in how society viewed LGBTQ people," per the GLBT Historical Society Museum's "Labor of Love" exhibit.
Here's how it evolved over the decades:
