If you’ve not kept up, SF Pride’s bungling of its naming, and then un-naming, of imprisoned army private and Wikileaks leaker Bradley Manning, who happens to be gay, as an honorary grand marshal at the June 30 parade has been tragi-comic so far. And even though Pride executive director Earl Plante says there’s no way leadership will change its mind about Manning despite anger in the gay community over his being excluded (in absentia, of course), they’re going to hold a public meeting Friday night at Metropolitan Community Church in the Castro to let people vent, apparently.
Note: I’ve written about the brouhaha for San Francisco magazine’s June issue.
Meanwhile, after a disastrous (and many said disingenuous) May 7 meeting in which only a handful of people were able to squeeze into the group’s tiny offices and press photographers were kept out, SF Pride’s announcement about the event reads like they’re expecting trouble. An excerpt:
We continue to be open to peaceful and constructive conversation with set ground rules but will not condone violence in any form moving forward. To ensure that community members have the opportunity to speak along with securing the safety of all attendees, we will have security on the premises . . . The event cannot go past 9:30 p.m.
