SF PRIDE 2022 Finally Returns with Hella City Style
Last week in San Francisco the stylish kids, queers, Queens, and everyone in between gathered in droves for the official San Francisco PRIDE 2022 celebration in downtown San Francisco. The event was finally back after what seemed like an absolute eternity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As your local Broke-Ass City Style columnist at large, I dove head first into the four day long celebration, starting at the Fairmont Hotel on Thursday and ending at the edge of the SF PRIDE parade route Sunday for the Civic Center street fair and block party celebration.
ABC7 news anchor & SF PRIDE parade on air host Reggie Aqui in Banana Republic & Oxxfords poses with VP of SF PRIDE Board of Directors Nguyen Pham in Vesey & Christian Louboutin
The weekend kicked off nice and early for me, as a handsome emailed invitation led me straight to the official PRIDE Press Preview news conference and cocktail hour, held on the gorgeous rooftop garden pavilion of the Fairmont Hotel. There, ABC7 News morning anchor Reggie Aqui, one of two openly gay co-anchor newscasters at the station, introduced the eight community and celebrity grand marshals and fielded questions from an audience comprised of local, national, and international media representatives. This year’s PRIDE Grand Marshals included long running Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider, three time Grammy nominated Gullah style musical artist and vocal activist Melanie Demore, and Mellanique Robicheaux aka DJ BLACK, who preferred to be called the parade “Grand Marsha”, in homage to activist Marsha P. Johnson.
Contemporary painter and tattoo artist Tanya Wischerath in Marc Jacobs, at her showing at the Haight Street Art Center
Straight afterward I met some friends at the Haight Street Art Center for a very special queer art show featuring legendary poster artist Mari Tepper and portrait artist Tanya Wischerath, pictured above in Marc Jacobs.
Tracy Piper’s (center, in white) mural is celebrated by artist Mike Sanchez (far left) & The SF Gallerinas at the Ferry Building
Speaking of artists, Friday was the one day of San Francisco PRIDE weekend I reserved to see my friends before we all branched off to do our own thing. Just in time for PRIDE month, contemporary painter Tracy Piper unveiled her largest mural to date at the Ferry Building in partnership with Voss Gallery. You may remember her from my write up of her last opening here. Always a stylish bunch, the girls in the art crowd aka The Gallerinas got together to celebrate Piper. It was the perfect way to ease my way into the hectic “holiday” weekend ahead.
Jay & Jonathan came all the way from San Diego to be twinning at SF PRIDE
Once I arrived at Civic Center on Saturday and began shooting pictures of the crowd, it became clear very quickly that the out of town crowd was there to slay. Fresh from SD PRIDE 2022, Jay & Jonathan (pictured above) came up from San Diego for round two of PRIDE here in the city.
Paula from San Jose, Susanna from Antioch, & Sam, who just moved to South San Francisco
Never ones to be counted out, the flashy locals also showed up and were bringing it in their best and brightest PRIDE garb, with residents from the East Bay, South Bay, Peninsula, and of course San Francisco represented.
Birthday girl Chavanna & Daijana from Richmond brought Milo along to PRIDE, who had a custom dyed rainbow fur coat just for the occasion
Trans superstar Mila Jam poses in the backstage area at the SF PRIDE main stage
The SF PRIDE 2022 performers on the main stage were a star studded lineup of LGBTQ stars like Mila Jam, and local staples like DJ LadyRyan and my personal favorite “squad” at PRIDE every year, Cheer SF performing their high flying stunts and acrobatic pom routines.
Selena from Sacramento was striking in her matching ensemble
Tyreese from Hanford plus Jordan, Cameron, Vincent, & Brantley from Fresno were serving fierce Central CA cowboy style
Jade & Amber, both City Girls, were pastel pink perfection in their matching outfits at Civic Center
Nelli from Sacramento’s oversized denim jacket by Blublackboi had patches on the front and a giant heart painted on the back
Miranda, Isaiah, Andres, & Gabby from Sacramento were cute & Clueless in their 90’s themed garb
I must admit I was quite impressed by all the coordinated and matching outfits I saw at PRIDE, especially the ones amongst larger groups of revelers, I guess that’s what happens when you give folks three whole years to pick out an outfit. The above pictured squad from Sacramento’s 1990’s inspired look was one of my favorites of the entire weekend.
You could find Asia from Oakland hyping up DJ Lady Ryan, who was spinning on the SF PRIDE main stage
A colorful and color coordinating coven from Sacramento celebrating PRIDE at Civic Center
Alexandria from Cincinnati, India from Washington DC, & friend were bringing major swagger to the main stage area
Monica came all the way to Atlanta to march in the 2022 San Francisco PRIDE Parade
Marijia from India alongside your author, who really should have worn a hat
To some attendees, PRIDE style had less to do with wearing rainbows and more to do with wearing their culture’s traditional garments, like Marijia (above) & DJ did. Marijia bought her colorful sari just for the Sunday parade and the detailing on DJ’s entire ensemble was absolutely exquisite.
DJ from San Francisco looked stunning in his formal traditional attire
I caught Emily from SF on Van Ness walking from the parade to the festival. Her outfit was both easy and adorable on a hot and breezy city day
Mario P was packing pink backstage and impossible to miss with a big smile and great vibes
Ms. Russian Cream was also backstage flexing big labels while looking picture perfect
Junior repped Merced in a major way with his sophisticated style and “drippy” beaded sunglasses
It’s true, the folks who showed up and showed out for SF PRIDE 2022 brought it in a big way this year, especially those from out of town. There were also those few individuals who used the event as an excuse to practice exhibitionism, via either donning their fetish wear in public or nothing at all (literally). These two equine furries I happened upon outside City Hall seemed to be having a great time. I thought I should add that the zebra is facing the other way in the picture because he turned around and twerked for me. A real sassy one!
Thanks for reading my style recap of SF PRIDE 2022! Remember to always be yourself. Even if you’re some sort of a horse!
PRIDE was back in a big way this year and despite some drama at the end, it was so incredible to be able to take in all the familiar sights, celebrate with friends both old and new, and the most important part: see what everyone was wearing. Now that summer is in full swing and the festivals, street fairs, and other local outdoor events are back, be sure to sign up for the Broke-Ass Stuart newsletter so you don’t miss out on any rad things to do in the city!
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