Why is San Diego's Pride in July, not June? The answer is very San Diego

While Pride events get underway across the country, some who are new to San Diego may be searching for San Diego Pride Month events and notice the June calendar lacking a bit.

That's not to say there aren't Pride Month events to be had. Just wait one more month and celebrations will be held almost daily. But it leaves some wondering, 'Why is San Diego Pride in July instead of June, the widely recognized Pride Month in the United States?'

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Well, 50,000 annual attendees of Pride in America's Finest City can't be wrong: Pride in July is perfect.

Sure, but why, why July? and not June, as is the case for Pride in L.A., San Francisco, New York City and most other places? And how did that come to be?

The story of San Diego's Pride, like all of the LGBTQ+ celebrations around the nation, begins on June 28, 1970, in NYC, Chicago and Los Angeles, with marches held on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, when NYPD plainclothes officers raided the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in Manhattan. The police came armed with a search warrant, ostensibly to probe the illegal sale of alcohol — the sale of alcohol to a gay person was illegal in NYC till as late as 1966, with reverberations felt afterward — and events escalated after arrests were made following police "interrogations" and subsequent police brutality.

San Diego's first parade march celebrating the LGBTQ+ community stepped off in 1974, according to organizers, with the first permitted Pride parade taking place the following year.

According to the organizers of San Diego Pride, however, it's necessary to look back to the 1990 iteration of the event to understand why San Diego's Pride falls a little later in the calendar. In the intervening years, participants and festival officials had become all too aware that they were competing with other cities for attendees, since the Prides were all stacked up against one another.

"Back when all Prides attempted to be on the same weekend in June, it limited our LGBTQ+ organizations’ abilities to be in every city, to build supporter lists and to grow our organizations," as Pride organizers put it on their website.

Then, in 1990, it happened, a seemingly ordinary event for many Americans but one whose paralyzing properties San Diegans are all too familiar with: Rain.

That's right, precipitation nearly prompted the cancellation of that year's event. In subsequent discussions, people made the excellent argument that there was no threat of June Gloom in July, either.

And so, the event was moved back a month in the calendar, where it's made its home except for 2020, when, of course, the pandemic pause put a hold on Pride.

The wait is always worth it as event organizers jam-pack July with celebrations, community events, remembrances and more. This year, San Diego Pride runs from July 13 to 21, with the event culminating with the San Diego Pride Parade on July 20. The same weekend, the San Diego Pride Festival will overtake Balboa Park with several stages featuring live performances, entertainment zones and more. Tickets are already on sale.

For all Pride events happening in both June and July, check out the lineup here.

This story has been updated. It was originally published in July 2022.