San Francisco Pride holds Pink Saturday Block Party for weekend celebrations
SAN FRANCISCO — It's the final weekend of Pride Month and ahead of Sunday's Pride Parade people were out in the streets celebrating.
The Great Northern hosted a Pink Saturday Block Party full of music and art. It gives people like Andrey Frazao a place to express themselves.
"People here can be free without feeling judged," said Frazao.
The Pink Saturday Block Party has been providing a safe and supportive place for the LGBTQ+ community for decades.
Frazao used to live in San Francisco; he now lives in LA but still comes back for the block party and Pride weekend.
"I think that events like this show how strong the San Francisco community is, especially the LGBTQ+ community," said Frazao.
Frazao said when he looks around this community, all the love and support he sees gives him hope.
"Being able to just be out in the street, sometimes half naked, sometimes dressed up crazy it just shows how the world has been evolving and changing for the better," said Frazao.
Frazao isn't the only person who traveled to celebrate and dance in the San Francisco streets, Alexander Monsanto is visiting the city from Berlin.
He said he appreciates how LGBTQ+ culture is celebrated in San Francisco.
"It's quite different from Berlin and from Europe," said Monsanto. "It seems really organized which is really nice. And it seems like people put a lot of effort into putting the party together, the decorations, the outfits."
That effort is something event organizer Lyja Stadlen-Brown said she is happy to put in to make this event happen for the queer community.
"I think it's really important that people who don't always have the same opportunities as other people or get treated differently for whatever reason," said Stadlen-Brown. "We got to lift up the people around us and I'm so happy to be a part of celebrating this beautiful community."
Frazao said, despite moving out of San Francisco, he's always pulled back for the Pride celebration because the community.
"I think being safe is when you can go out no matter how you dress, no matter how you feel without having that fear of being judge," said Frazao.