Lifelong LGBTQ activist talks about her new job at San Francisco Pride
Pride season is rapidly approaching and this year’s celebrations in San Francisco are in the capable hands of bisexual author and activist Amy Andre. On the eve of its 40th anniversary, Andre was made the Executive Director of San Francisco Pride, a distinction she describes as “amazing, exhilarating, and incredibly humbling.”
Andre’s experience as a lifelong LGBT advocate is wide-ranging. She is the co-author of Bisexual Health: An Introduction and Model Practices for HIV/STI Prevention; the director of En Mi Piel (On My Skin), a film about the transitioning experience of a biracial transgender man and his family; and has worked in several LGBT organizations in the Bay Area, such as Out & Equal Workplace Advocates and Open Enterprises. Having marched in the SF Pride parade and its contingents in the past, this will be Andre’s introduction to organizing the event for the community.
The theme of this year’s celebration is “Forty and Fabulous,” a tribute to the longstanding nature of the event, which will take place over the weekend of June 26-27, 2010 in the Civic Center of downtown San Francisco. But before Pride itself begins, the organization will host a benefit at the Contemporary Jewish Museum on May 15th that will include live entertainment by the Lesbian Gay Chorus of San Francisco, a silent auction, and dance tracks laid down by DJ Robbie Martin. “We’re planning events throughout the year,” says Andre. “And the Forty and Fabulous benefit is one of the most exciting things we’ve got coming up.”
If you can’t make it to the benefit, there are many other ways to get involved with San Francisco Pride—from planning your own event or parade contingent to volunteering to setting up an exhibitor booth. Or you can simply attend the biggest annual celebration by and for LGBT folks in the U.S. because, as Andre exclaims, “Being a part of Pride is an incredible feeling!”