San Diego-San Diego Pride Weekend officially kicked off on Friday night with the “Stone Wall Spirit Rally”.

Event organizers plan to hold a two-day block party instead of the traditional two-day festival and parade. Block parties are one of many events in San Diego County.

Fernando Lopez, Executive Director of LGBT Pride in San Diego, said: “This is our organization and community’s way of paying tribute to the origins of our civil rights movement and the LGBTQ rights movement. In 1969, LGBTQ people fought back against the police who attacked our bar. .”.

This rally recognized the community’s efforts for the San Diego LGBTQ community, and this year’s theme is resilience.

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria addressed the crowd as the city’s first publicly elected LGBTQ mayor.

“This is not my victory, this is our victory,” Gloria said. “A lot of people have worked very hard for many, many years.”

Lopez added ten years ago that soldiers participated in the Pride Parade for the first time after the government abolished the “don’t ask, don’t say, policy”.

“I am a transgender woman, I am a Navy veteran, and I am free,” Peggy Sugillen said.

“There is always someone’s first pride, and we will always remember that is when people find new families, connections and support,” Lopez said.