Latest news with #PrideCelebration
San Francisco Chronicle
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Expansion Valkyries' bond with LGBTQ+ community was forged immediately
Gigi Jackson, of Hayward, left, and her partner Lety Calzada take photos of Chicago Sky player Ariel Atkins, who Jackson attended Duncanvile High School in Dallas, TX, prior to the matchup against the Golden State Valkyries for their Pride Celebration at Chase Center in San Francisco on Friday, June 27, 2025. Yalonda M. James/S.F. Chronicle Epiphany Kali, a drag performer with Ronnie Reddick Presents I'm Every Woman, receives help with her dress from Ronnie Reddick before their halftime performance at Chase Center as the Golden State Valkyries celebrate Pride Night at Chase Center in San Francisco on Friday, June 27, 2025. Ronnie Reddick Presents comprises of drag and trans performers. Yalonda M. James/S.F. Chronicle A drag queen strutted across center court, rainbow lights pulsed through the Chase Center and Megan Doherty-Baker stood watching on the 200 level, wearing a Pride Golden State Valkyries T-shirt. The Valkyries were narrowly up at the half of a tense game with the Chicago Sky, but the vibe was loose; it was the team's first Pride game. 'This is, and has been, such a joyous experience,' Doherty-Baker said. 'Coming into this arena and seeing a lot of visible queers, not to mention those that I can't visibly recognize. I see community here. I think there's been a lot of us for a long time who have been WNBA fans and sports fans, and so the fact that there are so many of us here, and a place for us here, is exciting.' Pride nights have become politically divisive across sports, with some teams and leagues dropping them entirely. The WNBA and women's sports as a whole have historically been a more welcoming experience for LGBTQ+ fans, especially queer women. Advertisement Article continues below this ad 'I think the reason we have, or I have at least, been a WNBA fan has been exactly because it's not like the NBA or men's sports,' Doherty-Baker said. The Valkyries became the first WNBA team to sell 10,000 season tickets. They've sold out all nine games this season. Courtside seats have cost up to $3,900. Sportico reported that they are the first pro women's sports team to reach a $500 million valuation, making the league's newest team its most valuable. Expansion teams in any sport, but especially in younger leagues, take longer to build a fan base without a rich history. But the Valkyries had a built-in audience ready before any players were on the roster. 'I'm all about inclusivity and I'm all about acceptance and all about allowing people to be themselves,' said Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase on Friday. 'I'm really big on that, and I could feel that when I walk into the arena, when I'm here at the Bay, I feel so much culture mixed together. And to me, it almost feels like I was accepted the minute I landed here. I think that's special. I think that's unique, because I don't think it's like that in every other city that I've visited or lived in. We're just a great community that kind of opens our arms to everyone and anyone.' Advertisement Article continues below this ad Approximately 27% of WNBA players identify as openly queer, according to AutoStraddle. A Morning Consult survey found that 73% of LGBTQ+ sports fans feel more welcome at leagues and teams that have Pride nights. The league's early renditions catered to the desirability of different audiences, centering on traditional sports fans that advertising surveys would find to be straight men. Still, the league didn't grow on that alone. The WNBA became the first sports league in the United States to create an annual Pride platform every June in 2014. Since then, the WNBA's attendance has increased by 52%, and ESPN's average viewership has risen by 170% year-over-year, reaching 1.19 million in 2024. Much of that has been attributed to the Caitlin Clark effect, as well as her appeal as a straight, white superstar; however, WNBA ratings had been increasing since 2021. The growth of women's sports, and especially the WNBA, into the mainstream has made some queer fans feel pushed to the side after their fandom sparked initial growth. After being the loyal audience for more than a decade while others scoffed, it's felt like being replaced as soon as the league had the option. 'I still have my own question marks around, like, how inclusive both the league and even this franchise wants to be,' Doherty-Baker said. 'That's an issue around, there's a lot more excitement about women's sports from people who haven't been here or are new to it. I worry about some of the transphobia that we definitely see, and just what the limits are of, there's a Pride night, we feel included. But I think we pretty quickly end up bumping up against how far corporations are actually willing to understand where we're coming from.' Against that backdrop, the Valkyries haven't hesitated to not only be inclusive of their queer fanbase, but also to center it. Intentionally or not, the Valkyries brand has tons of imagery queer fans connect with. Their colors, 'Valkyrie Violet,' are closer to a shade of lavender, which was used to represent queer empowerment during the civil rights movement. The team name is the same as a queer Marvel superhero, 'Valkyrie,' played by openly queer actress Tessa Thompson. Advertisement Article continues below this ad Oakland native and lesbian singer Kehlaini voiced the team's first promotional video, 'I think their marketing definitely is what drew me in,' said Holly Schultz, a San Francisco resident who wasn't a sports fan before the Valkyries started. 'From the very first post that they did, the video that they did, I was like, 'Oh, this is cool, I could be a part of this.'' While there have always been queer women's basketball fans and players, the sport — and WNBA — haven't always been as explicitly welcoming. Several queer players were closeted or not marketed in the early 2000s, but the league chose to lean into its LGBTQ+ audience later on. 'I'd never had a real desire to go to a game for like the Giants or Warriors much,' Schultz said. 'But then I saw there were queer players and how many queer fans there were for the Valkyries and now I feel very passionate about them.' Advertisement Article continues below this ad The first Valkyries season has felt pretty queer to its fans. While the WNBA confronts its growing mainstream audience, the inaugural Valkyries fandom hopes they will always feel secure in their space. 'When there's a lot of money and power, these kinds of institutions might think they can do just enough, and that'll be enough,' Doherty-Baker said. 'But who we are as a community is that we're always pushing for more, and we'll do that here as well.'
Washington Post
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
NYC, San Francisco and other US cities capping LGBTQ+ Pride month with a mix of party and protest
NEW YORK — The monthlong celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride reaches its rainbow-laden crescendo as New York and other major cities around the world host major parades and marches on Sunday. The festivities in Manhattan, home to the nation's oldest and largest Pride celebration, kick off with a march down Fifth Avenue featuring more than 700 participating groups and expected huge crowds.
San Francisco Chronicle
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Pride weekend kicks into high gear with Dyke March, Pride Celebration
A year after the abrupt cancellation of 2024's Dyke March, the fun was more than back — along with a strident note of defiance. Tens of thousands of queer women and their allies thronged Dolores Park on Saturday for a party in the sun, filling the public space with bursting joy and laughter as they gathered to celebrate this year's Dyke Rally and March. Abi Everywhere, 36, was setting up early Saturday with her friend, Ren Hamm, 28, as a steady stream of revelers arrived. They had an inflatable unicorn mostly puffed up, blankets spread across the lawn and cheese plates and sparkling water ready for friends who would be arriving throughout the afternoon. Everywhere and members of her Burning Man community, Camp Beaverton, were among the thousands of queer folk congregating at Dolores Park for Pink Saturday and the Dyke Rally. 'It's a unique opportunity for our community,' said Everywhere, who grew up in a religious household in suburban Houston and couldn't come out until college. 'It's like a family reunion and a good way for the old guard to welcome the new folks.' The first Dyke Marches were held in 1993, with a parade in Washington D.C. in April of that year, and others in New York and San Francisco later that year. Over the decades, the event has drawn tens of thousands of marchers and revelers. Saturday's rally was set to go from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with performances by musicians, comedians and a drag king, as well as speeches by San Francisco Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson and Imani Rupert-Gordon, president of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights. The march immediately follows, leaving from 18th and Dolores streets and traveling its usual route to the Castro and back to Dolores Park. A mile and a half away, at Civic Center Plaza, an equally large crowd was assembling to hear music, eat carnival food and celebrate queerness under the sun at the annual Pride Celebration. As the march began Saturday evening, hundreds lined the sidewalks along 18th Street as the Dyke March filled the street. Dykes on Bikes, a group of women motorcyclists, led the parade, followed by a truck filled with dancers and speakers blasting music. Some demonstrators held a sign reading 'Dykes for a Free Palestine,' surrounded by marchers carrying Palestinian flags. Other signs called for an end to deportations and called Immigration and Customs Enforcement 'cowards.' The two themes provided some dissonance, if not a contrast in vibes. Marchers near the very front of the parade danced and clapped and celebrated the event, while about 100 yards behind marchers shouted common pro-Palestinian chants. The festival, which is open to the public Saturday and Sunday, includes six stages with DJ sets, bands and singers, dance battles and other performances. Lara Starr, a Marin County resident, came to the Pride Celebration as part of Free Mom Hugs, a nationwide organization of people supporting LGBTQ events. Starr, who joined the group after her son came out as gay, said the volunteers are there to give hugs — or high fives or fist bumps — to bolster queer people, especially those who do not have support from their parents, as fill-in family members. 'Hydrate. Use sunscreen. Eat your vegetables. We are doing the full mom schtick,' Starr said. Another mom, Beth Stapleton, whose teenager is trans, said she had already hugged hundreds of people hours into the event. 'Some people really need it,' Stapleton said. The theme of resisting rising anti-LGBTQ hate ran throughout the celebration. At a booth on McAllister Street, volunteers with Headcount were offering chocolate to anyone who checked their voter registration. Luis Aguilar, a team lead with the Bay Area chapter of the voter registration organization, said that LGBTQ people face barriers to voting, especially trans people who have to show IDs, so he was particularly motivated to encourage voter registration at Pride. 'There's no other act of rebellion that's bigger than registering to vote and mobilizing a community,' Aguilar said. On the main stage, in front of San Francisco City Hall, performers were connecting discrimination experienced by LGBTQ people with that faced by immigrants. 'None of us are illegal. None of us are aliens,' said Anjali Rimi, board president of the Center for Immigrant Protection. Rimi said her organization works with LGBTQ immigrants seeking asylum due to threats and violence facing them in their home countries due to their sexuality. Kiki Lopez, an artist, also connected Pride with other political causes, including the call to free Sudan, Congo and Palestine. But, despite the political messages, the festivities were still fun. Back at Dolores Park, people lolled in the late morning sun, laughing with friends, sipping on tea, water and harder beverages underneath a cloudless sky. Others set up tents or sun shades as music from nearby speakers filled the air. Venders grilled hot dogs, hawked ice cream bars and drinks. 'I look forward to Pink Saturday as much as Christmas,' said Imani Brown, 42, who was there with her wife, Jenny Kline, and friend, Esther Crane. Brown sported a T-shirt emblazoned with the words 'She/Her/Daddy' — and had her own inflatable unicorn. 'I love this city,' she said. 'It's beautiful, diverse, and not special to be a queer, Black woman. ... It's wonderful, empowering.' The day felt particularly poignant for her and others amidst the current political climate, as jurisdictions around the country have passed legislation to curtail queer rights: On Friday, the Supreme Court had handed down a ruling siding with parents seeking to opt their children out of school instruction involving LGBTQ+ books. 'We're being terrorized by the U.S. government,' Brown said. 'This us us showing up and saying 'We can't be erased.'' Across the park, Aeryn M, 37, and Lauren Stanton, 40, stood under a tent at the 'Screen Door' handing out sunscreen, drinks and snacks to passersby. 'Joy is resistance,' said Stanton, who'd traveled from Long Beach for the party. 'If you're mad because we're thriving, die mad.' This article will be updated as the festivities progress.
Winnipeg Free Press
6 days ago
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
While a date with top-ranked U.S. looms, Canada not looking past No. 43 Costa Rica
TORONTO – With a date with the top-ranked United States looming Wednesday in Washington, D.C., the Canadian women take to the field Friday in Toronto against Costa Rica. At No. 43, the Central Americans are ranked 35 places below Canada. But Canada coach Casey Stoney is wary of what awaits at BMO Field. 'I think it's an opponent we can't take for granted,' the former England captain said after training Thursday. 'They got a nil-nil draw against the U.S. last summer.' 'There will be absolutely no complacency,' she added with emphasis. 'We don't allow for that. We go into every game to try to compete to win. And that will be the same Friday and that will be the same next week.' Stoney expects to face a heavy Costa Rican defensive presence that will be hard to break down. 'We should expect to dominate the ball, but with the ball, we have to make sure we're very good on transition,' she said. 'I think it's an improvement we need to do from the last camp. I thought we got caught out a few times there. 'It's about how we can look at relationships on the pitch, how we can create overloads in certain areas and try and break them down. And then it's about a bit of creativity and individual brilliance, when you're trying to beat a (defensive) block as well. There's been some really positive stuff this week in training and I'm really looking forward to seeing how that plays out (Friday).' Canada has won all 17 previous meetings with Costa Rica, outscoring the Central Americans 53-6. But they needed a 104th-minute goal to win 1-0 the last time they met, in March 2024 in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup in Los Angeles. Canada had blanked Costa Rica 3-0 in the group stage at the tournament. Canada has called in Canadian under-20 goalkeeper Noelle Henning to replace Lysianne Proulx, who has had to withdraw due to a shoulder injury. Proulx has returned to Italy's Juventus to continue rehabilitation. Friday's game is a special 'Pride Celebration' match, the third in as many years for the Canadian women who will wear a special kit featuring Pride-themed numbers. For veteran defender Vanessa Gilles, it's just the right thing to do. 'It's something that just feels right for us,' said Gilles, now with Bayern Munich. 'Whenever we can, as players and as a team, we try to make people feel comfortable and accepted as they can (be) — and as loved as they can (be) — no matter race, colour, whatever it may be. 'We're very welcoming. As a country, those are the values we try to exude. And as a team we try to live by that. So to be able to be at home for Pride Night as well is huge. I hope a lot of people come and feel the love as well.' Canada Soccer reported Thursday that tickets sales were approaching 10,000 with a bump in sales expected in the final 24 hours. Coming off a pair of wins over No. 50 Haiti, the Canadian women are 5-1-1 under Stoney, whose first games in charge were at the Pinatar Cup in Spain in February. The lone loss was a 1-0 setback at the hands of No. 32 Argentina in April in Langford, B.C. The Canadians had defeated the South Americans 3-0 four days earlier in Vancouver. Costa Rica failed to advance out of the group stage at the 2023 World Cup, losing to No. 2 Spain (3-0), No. 7 Japan (2-0) and No. 65 Zambia (3-1). Canada, under then-coach Bev Priestman, also failed to reach the knockout round after drawing No. 36 Nigeria 0-0, beating No. 25 Ireland 2-1 and losing 4-0 to No 15 Australia, the tournament co-host. Thursdays Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter. Costa Rica went 0-2-1 in its only other trip to the World Cup, in 2015 in Canada. The current Canadian roster features two Northern Super League players in Emma Regan (AFC Toronto) and Holly Ward (Vancouver Rise FC). Eight other NSL players are also on international duty during the FIFA window, with Jamaica, Nigeria, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, South Korea and Ukraine. Unavailable for Canada due to injury are defenders Kadeisha Buchanan, Sydney Collins and Jayde Riviere, and forwards Olivia Smith and Cloé Lacasse. Buchanan is in town, however, and was working out with a trainer during the Canada practice Thursday. — This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 26, 2025.
CBS News
7 days ago
- General
- CBS News
San Francisco Pride Parade and Pride Celebration road closures. Here's what to know
The San Francisco Pride Parade and Pride Celebration will take place this weekend, but some road closures will begin on Thursday. Here's what to know. The parade begins at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at Market and Beale streets, near Embarcadero Plaza, and the Pride Celebration takes place on Saturday and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Road Closures Closed all of Thursday Grove Street between Polk and Larkin Closed 7 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Monday Polk between McAllister and Grove Larkin between McAllister and Market Fulton between Hyde and Larkin Closed all Saturday and Sunday Polk between Turk and Market Larkin between Turk and Market Hyde between Turk and Market Golden Gate between Van Ness and Leavenworth McAllister between Van Ness and Leavenworth Fulton between Larkin and Hyde Grove between Van Ness and Hyde Closed 12 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday Leavenworth between McAllister and Market Sutter between Sansome and Market Sansome, northbound lanes, between Sutter and Bush Closed 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday Market between 8th and 9th Steuart between Market and Howard Spear between Market and Folsom — Intersections open Main between Market and Folsom — Intersections open Beale between Market and Mission Beale traffic lanes between Mission and Howard — Muni-only lane open for Salesforce Transit Center access A map of road closures and SFMTA service changes for the San Francisco Pride Celebration, taking place on June 28 and 29, 2025. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Parade Route The parade will begin on Market Street at Embarcadero Plaza and end at Market and 9th streets, near the Civic Center Plaza. The following roads will be closed starting at 9:30 a.m. for the Parade. Market will be closed between Beale and 9th — All intersections on Market closed to cross traffic A map of road closures and SFMTA service changes for the San Francisco Pride Parade on June 29, 2025. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Getting to the Parade and Celebration The Market Street Subway offers the easiest option for getting to the parade, according to the SFMTA. Anyone using BART can get off at the Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell or Civic Center stations. Those stations are along the parade route, with the Civic Center Station being near the festival. The SFMTA has a full list of service impacts on its website.
