As always, the roar of the Dykes on Bikes will usher in the San Francisco Pride Parade on the last Sunday in June.
This year’s celebration, the city’s 41st, will feature more than 200 parade contingents, 19 stages and celebrity grand marshal Chaz Bono, the author-activist child of Sonny and Cher who wrote of his recent transformation from a woman to a man in his forthcoming book, “Transition.”
Actress Olympia Dukakis will be waving from the backseat of a chauffeured car, as will Yigit Pura from the Bravo television show “Top Chef: Just Desserts.”
The parade is free and starts at 10:30 a.m. Visitors interested in grandstand tickets, VIP access to the artists and celebrities via a Pride Pass, or tickets to the VIP after-party can buy them at sfpride.org.
The website also lists a month of Pride events throughout the city, including a business expo, concerts, activities for children and an art exhibition at Good Vibrations.
Frameline, the annual San Francisco International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, begins Thursday and runs through June 26 at the Castro Theatre and various independent cinemas (see story on Page 20). In its 35th year, the 2011 festival is heavy on transgender films, including “Becoming Chaz,” a documentary about Chastity Bono’s switch to Chaz; the French film “Tomboy,” about a boyish 10-year-old girl who wants to be called Mikael; and “Renee,” a documentary about Renée Richards, champion tennis player and future coach of Martina Navratilova, who competed in the Women’s Open Cup as the first transgender player.
Local comedian Margaret Cho will be honored by Frameline at the screening of her latest stand-up film, “Cho Dependent.”
Full film schedule and ticketing information is available at www.frameline.org.
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- Chaz Bono to be grand marshal of Gay Pride Parade (sfgate.com)
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