San Francisco vows that its own Pride celebration will go on

Brian Levitt, 56, retapes a memorial sign for the Orlando victims in San Francisco's Castro District. The sign says in Spanish, "For our fallen brothers and sisters in Orlando." Levitt said: "It's an attack on every one of us."

By Rong-Gong Lin II

June 12, 2016 2:24 PM PT

Reporting from San Francisco — Officials here said they are increasing police presence throughout the city following the deadly attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla.

“While there are no known threats to San Francisco, the San Francisco Police Department will be increasing police presence in places of high public concentration,” police Sgt. Michael Andraychak said in a statement. They include the city’s famed Castro District — the center of gay life in the city — other LGBT venues and mosques, as well as shopping, transit and entertainment venues.

Flags are hanging at half-mast at City Hall, which will be lighted in rainbow flag colors Sunday evening.

In a telephone interview, San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener, who represents the Castro District, said he was stunned when he heard the news about the 50 deaths in Orlando.

“As someone who has been going back more than 25 years who has been going to the gay clubs, as someone who has many friends who go to gay clubs, for this to happen, this attack on our community, for 50-plus people to be murdered, it felt like I had been stabbed in the gut,” said Wiener, who was returning from a trip abroad. “We’re all in a state of mourning now.… When is this violence against our community going to end?”

The supervisor said he will be convening a meeting of gay bar and club owners with police officials this week “so that everyone can have all the information they need to be safe.”

Police have stepped up their presence in San Francisco's Castro District, following the deadly attacks on a gay nightclub in Orlando.

Wiener vowed that the San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Pride Celebration will go on as scheduled on June 25-26.

“We should absolutely not be canceling Pride,” Wiener said. “You do not respond to terrorism by shutting down your society … we should never let terrorist attacks stop us from being who are.”

In fact, the supervisor said it is even more important that people come out this year “and recommit ourselves to ending homophobic and transphobic violence.”

San Francisco has been gearing up for Pride for weeks — crisp, bright rainbow flags have been installed all along Castro Street and City Hall, as well as along supermarkets. New rainbow flags have also begun to flutter from homes.

In a statement, Mayor Ed Lee called the Orlando attack “an evil act of terror.”

“This is a stark reminder of the violence that still threatens our LGBT community,” Lee said. “Senseless acts of violence against innocents, fueled by hate and easy access to deadly firearms, have become all-too frequent.”

The mayor added: “Profound tragedies and acts of hate again leave us heartbroken, even numb and speechless. But we resolve today, more than ever, that love, strength and unity will always triumph over hate, fear and violence.”

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San Francisco has held a version of the Pride parade and celebration since 1970, the first anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City, a seminal moment in the modern gay civil rights movement. The riots were prompted by a police raid of a popular gay bar called the Stonewall Inn in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969.

Local organizers call San Francisco’s Pride Celebration and Parade the nation’s largest gathering of the LGBT community and their allies.

Wiener and the mayor will attend a candlelight vigil in the heart of the Castro District at 8 p.m. Sunday at Harvey Milk Plaza. The plaza is named for San Francisco’s first openly gay supervisor, who was gunned down at City Hall in 1978 along with Mayor George Moscone.

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