June is Pride Month in the US and California, but San Diego’s celebration of the LGBTQ+ community goes down in July. This year’s schedule is packed with a variety of events, because there’s no one way to show pride.
Black Pride 2023
The San Diego Black LGBTQ Coalition is hosting Black Pride with a “Black Joy Renaissance” and “Body Positivity” theme. The event is Thursday, July 6-Sunday, July 9, and features a kickoff mixer, the Meet Me at the Back Mini Ball Volume 4 extravaganza, a day party at Rich’s nightclub in Hillcrest, and a pool party.
Spirit of Stonewall Rally
San Diego has hosted this rally since 1975 to honor leaders who are fighting to preserve progress and address challenges in the LGBTQ+ community. The free ceremony is on Friday, July 14, 6 p.m., at the Hillcrest Pride Flag.
San Diego Pride Parade
The 1.5-mile parade returns on Saturday, July 15, starting at 10 a.m. The procession begins at the Hillcrest Pride Flag, marches down University Avenue, turns onto Sixth Avenue, and ends in Balboa Park by Quince Street. This is free to watch, so secure your viewing spot early.
Pride Festival
Score tickets to the Balboa Park party on Saturday, July 15 + Sunday, July 16, with a full lineup of performers like Princess Nokia, David Archuleta, and Saucy Santana.
More events
This is just a sample of the fun, and there are many other celebrations on San Diego Pride’s full events calendar, including:
- Pride and Seek: The Queer Comedy Show — Tuesday, July 11
- Pride Block Party — Friday, July 14 + Saturday, July 15
- Pride 5K Run + Walk — Saturday, July 15
- UNITE! Music Festival presents The Sea Party — Saturday, July 15
- Drag-A-Licious Drag Show — Sunday, July 16
Why July?
Everyone is invited to celebrate Pride, but San Diego isn’t looking for any rain on its parade. In the early days of Pride events — like the 1970s + 1980s — organizers tried to coordinate displays on the same weekend in June across the nation.
In San Diego, sponsored Pride events date back to 1975. That invited June Gloom to the party, and in 1990, San Diego Pride was almost canceled because of the rain. So, organizers decided to move the event to July because there were better odds of sunshine.
San Diego isn’t alone. While some communities host Pride events in June — including Oceanside’s Pride By The Beach and LA Pride — other SoCal areas have opted to move their events. South Bay Pride is on Sunday, Aug. 26, in Chula Vista, Imperial Valley hosts its event in October, and Palm Springs celebrates in November.