Upward of 1,000 LGBTQ+ activists and allies boycotted the official San Francisco Pride parade on Sunday, instead holding their own “No Pride in Genocide” march in solidarity with Palestinians.
The alternative event—organized by groups including Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (QUIT) and Jewish Voice for Peace—took place near the Castro District and drew hundreds of people. Participants criticized the main SF Pride celebration for its corporate sponsorships and silence on the Israel-Gaza conflict.
“We are boycotting SF Pride because a lot of the organizations and politicians involved are not supportive of Palestinians,” QUIT activist Jon Ramirez Monaco told The Standard. He cited concerns about companies like Amazon and Google providing technology to the Israeli military.
Activists also objected to the presence of pro-Israel groups and politicians they view as unsupportive of Palestinian rights in the main parade.
Mama Ganuush, a Palestinian African activist and drag performer, accused SF Pride of allowing “pink-washing”—that is, using LGBTQ+ rights to distract from human rights abuses. They criticized the event’s acceptance of corporate sponsors and police participation.
“Pride doesn’t mean anything unless all of us are free and equal in the world,” Ramirez Monaco added.
Sophia Sobko of Jewish Voice for Peace said the alternative march aimed to “root into that spirit of rebellion” from early gay liberation events like the Stonewall uprising. Protesters chanted slogans like “no pride in genocide” and “there can be no queer liberation without Palestinian liberation.”
Organizers said they sought to refocus SF Pride on its protest roots while highlighting issues affecting LGBTQ+ Palestinians and other marginalized groups.
Ganuush, who said they have turned down multiple bookings during this year’s SF Pride season, said they were standing on their principles.
“I’m anti-racist,” Ganuush said. “Unfortunately, a lot of events that happen to discriminate against Black people are the same events that are celebrating Israel and not providing any form of safe space for Black or trans community members and Palestinians. That’s why I boycott them. As somebody who’s Palestinian-African, as somebody whose communities are mainly people of color and indigenous folks, I don’t feel comfortable being there.”
Ganuush also pointed to recent passage of anti-trans legislation and the Supreme Court’s ruling on Grants Pass affecting cities’ ability to respond to homelessness.
“I’m seeing my community, this is my true SF Pride, I see a collective of community of Black and brown bodies, Jewish bodies, queer bodies, trans bodies and allies standing up for for Palestine and and raising their voices to support Palestinian Liberation, the liberation of the Congo, the liberation of Haiti, and the liberation of indigenous and Black communities in the U.S and in San Francisco.”
The alternative march was more than just a protest, Ganuush said: It’s also a celebration.
“I’m very proud of my community,” they told The Standard. “I’m seeing a great celebration of our democracy. Hopefully, we still have the right to protest because there’s a lot of censorship in terms of speech that we do that is not a new thing. But this is just our way to celebrate that with our community.”
Sobko, of Jewish Voice for Peace’s Bay Area chapter, said the march aimed to show solidarity with Palestinians.
“We’re trying to put an end to this genocide,” she said, “and saying that there is no liberation for any of us without Palestinian liberation.”
Calling SF Pride a corporatized gathering, Sobko said she sought to use the legacy of Pride as a protest, including the Stonewall Rebellion, and the Compton’s Cafeteria Rebellion.
“We are refusing to have our queerness and our Jewishness weaponized to justify the ongoing violence against Palestinians,” she continued. “We are resisting the practice of pink-washing, an appeal to LGBTQ rights to justify other human rights abuses or draw attention away from human rights abuses.”
When asked if she participated in other events, Sobko said she would always come out in some way usually to Trans March or Dyke March.
“But I haven’t specifically come out to the corporatized version of SF Pride because of the calls to resist state violence,” she explained. “There’s always a heavy police presence. There are a lot of groups who have called for alternative events that don’t normalize or uphold corporations.”
Chants from the marchers as wended their way through the Castro echoed those themes.
“SFPD, KKK, IOF—they’re all the same,” the protesters chanted, using an initialism that stands for the “Israeli Offense Force,” a pejorative for the Israeli Defense Force.
As the marchers walked passed brunchers and SF Pride revelers, they changed their tune, chanting, “While you’re shopping, bombs are dropping.”
When asked about the city’s law enforcement response to the march, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Department said officers were “facilitating and monitoring First Amendment activity” and advising the public to avoid the area or expect delays.