With recent political violence, big event organizers are taking a second look at their security plans. That includes San Diego Pride as its annual parade on Saturday is expected to draw roughly 250,000 people to the Hillcrest neighborhood.
“It’s a busy, exciting time,” Joslyn Hatfield with SD Pride told NBC 7. “We’re in the middle of our 50th anniversary celebration here at San Diego Pride, and we’re really ramping up to a full week of events.”
San Diego Pride stories:
SD Pride 2024 began on July 13 and will go through July 21. The parade and festival are the largest events, but there are smaller gatherings like ceremonies, shows and parties throughout the month.
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One event, a She Fest workshop, was canceled due to safety concerns. The organization posted a statement last Saturday on Instagram that read, in part, “San Diego Pride leadership decided the Pinkwashing 101 workshop might run a risk to safety and to the organization that we were not prepared for, and our Interim Co-Executive Directors did not do our due diligence in thorough vetting and creating a thorough safety plan for a small community event.”
Hatfield told NBC 7 even though the organization works year-round on July’s events, they are willing to make big changes like cancellations, if necessary.
“Safety is our biggest concern,” she said. “We are beholden to our community. We have an obligation to keep our community safe, so that’s always going to be our priority.”
She said months are spent coordinating with local and state law enforcement on a plan, but they also emphasize on working with community leaders.
"'We keep us safe’ is something that we’ve been saying,” Hatfield said. “Our community really rallies around itself and so there is a law enforcement element to it, but it is also very community-led and driven as well.”
The San Diego Police Department shared a statement with NBC 7 about its efforts to keep Pride-goers safe. It read: “The San Diego Police Department is working closely with our partners at SDPride and local, state and federal allied agencies to ensure another safe and successful pride weekend. We encourage all spectators and participants to be respectful of one another. Report any suspicious activity to law enforcement immediately.”
When asked if the shooting that injured former President Donald Trump at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, caused any changes to their security plan for 2024, Hatfield said it started a conversation, but they are confident in their contingencies. She could not share specific details, out of risk of sharing sensitive plans, but said even if people are unable to see it, "they are absolutely there and it's almost better folks don't see it, right, it's better to know that you have the support but not necessarily have it be an intrusion to the celebration."
“Everyone needs to make the decision that is right for them, but you can feel comfortable that an immense amount of planning and coordination has gone into keep you safe and, also, I think it would be great to lean into your community and not let fear take over and win,” Hatfield said.
For the full list of events, click here.
