{"id":75008,"date":"2025-07-19T09:21:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T09:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/75008\/"},"modified":"2025-07-19T09:21:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T09:21:14","slug":"san-diego-pride-weekend-kicks-off-with-spirit-of-stonewall-rally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/75008\/","title":{"rendered":"San Diego Pride weekend kicks off with Spirit of Stonewall Rally"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5\/KUSI<\/a>) \u2014\u00a0The kickoff to San Diego Pride weekend continues in Hillcrest, following the Spirit of Stonewall Rally.<\/p>\n

While many of the attendees say they\u2019re excited for the celebrations over the weekend, they also mentioned the importance of remembering where the Pride movement began.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of San Diegans showed up to Hillcrest for the 50th Spirit of Stonewall Rally ready to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still in that point in life where we still have to be out there,\u201d said Cesar Reyes, the winner of the community service award. \u201cWe have to show up and showcase ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hillcrest businesses beef up security ahead of Pride weekend <\/a><\/p>\n

While attendees got the Pride weekend party started, Benjamin Nicholls with the Hillcrest business association says the gathering has a deeper meaning for the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great to have a party and we\u2019re gonna have a party, but we\u2019ve got to remember what pride is really all about,\u201d Nicholls said.<\/p>\n

The kickoff event calls back to the Stonewall Riots which took place in New York in 1969, becoming the catalyst for the gay rights movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cPride did start as an uprising, but it was an uprising against folks who were trying to limit our joy,\u201d said Kristin Flickinger, the interim director of San Diego Pride.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Flickinger says they\u2019re trying to keep the movement alive.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything that we\u2019ve fought for can go away in a minute,\u201d Reyes said.<\/p>\n

San Diego Pride says they named this year\u2019s theme \u201cUnbreakable Pride and Unshakeable Power\u201d to strengthen the community in spite of challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat almost activist mentality is really infused in the event this year,\u201d Nicholls said.<\/p>\n

San Diego Pride says they\u2019ve donated $3.5 million, raised through ticket and drink sales, to support organizations dedicated to advocating for LGBTQ+ rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a coming together. It\u2019s a uniting at really challenging times,\u201d Flickinger said.<\/p>\n

San Diego Pride honored several activists and organizations, including Bears San Diego for their work to create a welcoming environment for LGBTQ+ community members.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to go into a place when you\u2019re new to the community,\u201d said Donnie Vella, a spokesperson for Bears San Diego said.<\/p>\n

Vella says the organization began their work 30 years ago, and now, he\u2019s honored to be recognized by the Stonewall service award.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look for people that are vulnerable in the community that maybe don\u2019t have a mentor or someone to talk to, and we try to be that welcoming committee,\u201d Vella said.<\/p>\n

Many people like Vella say there\u2019s no better place to welcome in Pride weekend than in Hillcrest\u2014 the home of the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as we have the gloom and doom of the political climate, it\u2019s also a time to celebrate,\u201d Reyes said.<\/p>\n

The San Diego Pride celebrations aren\u2019t over yet.<\/p>\n

The parade kicks off from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, followed by the festival which begins at noon.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN DIEGO (FOX 5\/KUSI) \u2014\u00a0The kickoff to San Diego Pride weekend continues in Hillcrest, following the Spirit of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":75009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,52233,1582,276,52231,52232,52235,52234,51969,3549,40461,7264,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-75008","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-benjamin-nicholls","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-cesar-reyes","13":"tag-gay-rights-movement","14":"tag-hillcrest-business-association","15":"tag-kristin-flickinger","16":"tag-pride-weekend","17":"tag-san-diego","18":"tag-san-diego-pride","19":"tag-sandiego","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-united-states-of-america","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","24":"tag-us","25":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114879167443354028","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}