Formed in 1974 as a sponsored program of The Center for Social Services, San Diego Pride produced the first Lesbian and Gay Parade in San Diego to celebrate the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion on New York’s Christopher Street. San Diego Pride incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 1994, and today it continues to bring together the skills, talents and visions of our diverse community through numerous programs.
The San Diego Workforce Partnership connected with their marketing & communications manager, Alex Villafuerte, to learn more about San Diego Pride’s year round efforts.
How is San Diego Pride impacting the community?
San Diego Pride’s mission is fostering pride, equality and respect for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities locally, nationally and globally. In the past year through the ongoing pandemic, San Diego Pride has supported our community by providing grocery relief gift cards to our transgender community and LGBTQ service workers, hosting pop-up LGBTQ COVID-19 vaccination clinics and creating over 700 hours of virtual content to keep our community connected during a period of social isolation and distancing.
What else do you want the community to know about San Diego Pride?
In a regular year, many know us for the parade and festival, but what some may not realize is that San Diego Pride is a year-round education and advocacy organization with over 30 different programs and events. All of our events and programs are volunteer-led with many opportunities for San Diegans to get involved and connect with the LGBTQ community.
This year we are hosting Pride events all over San Diego and we invite you to join us and celebrate Pride! With many events outside of Hillcrest, we hope that progress in San Diego means that LGBTQ people feel welcome and safe in all neighborhoods and sectors.
Why is workforce development important to your organization’s mission?
Workforce development is an important and integral part of our mission which is why we value our partnership with the San Diego Workforce Partnership. Just last year, an LGBTQ person could be fired from their job, and currently our community shows higher rates of poverty than their cisgender straight counterparts. All lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer employees must be supported as their full and authentic selves in the workplace so that our community can thrive and build capacity creating long-lasting effects of intergenerational mentorship.
Join San Diego Pride from July 10 – 18 for a week of fun and celebrating the LGBTQ community. Honor community leaders at the Spirit of Stonewall Rally, join friends and family at the Resilient Community march and celebrate at over a dozen Pride events happening throughout the county. For more information, please visit the San Diego Pride website.