Tijuana's ninth annual gay/lesbian pride march is set for Saturday, June 7, at 4 p.m.
Participants will gather in front of the city's modest gay/lesbian center at 7648 Calle 1ra, five blocks west of Avenida Revolución between Avenida E (Mutualismo) and Avenida F (5 de Mayo). (Some street signs refer to Calle 1ra as Calle Artículo 123.)
To get there: Walk across the international border at San Ysidro. Exit the southern pedestrian turnstiles (not the western ones). Turn right and follow the tourists across Avenida Amistad, through the Viva Tijuana open-air mall, and across the big Tijuana River pedestrian bridge. Continue walking straight west about three blocks and cross under the huge new St. Louis-style arch on Avenida Revolución.
Enter Calle 1ra./Artículo 123—do not veer slightly left into the Plaza Santa Cecilia pedestrian mall—and proceed to number 7648. (Some buildings are marked in both old and new street-numbering systems. Pay attention only to numbers above 7000.)
To get to the border, take the San Diego Trolley or drive and park in a secure lot on the U.S. side. One can safely ignore bus and taxi drivers on both sides of the fence who insist it's a long walk to downtown Tijuana.
Other pride events this year include a Pride Dance at Extasis discothéque Friday, June 6, beginning at 8 p.m., and a post-parade 'Hot Party' at Equipales discothéque.
Extasis is near the border crossing along the back side of the straight club XS, at José Ma. Larroque 213, in the Viva Tijuana outdoor mall. Equipales is on the north side of Calle 7 (Galeana) just east of Avenida Revolución at number 8236.
This year's grand marshal is Emperor Rafaél Holguín of the Imperial Court de San Diego. This year's 'Finest Of Them All' award goes to Pepe Torres, editor of the Los-Angeles-based gay Latino magazine Adelante.
THOUSANDS CHEERED 2002 MARCH
Last year, thousands of cheering spectators lined Second Street and Revolution Avenue for the parade. The number of marchers was the same as in previous years—round 300—but the throng that descended on the city's two busiest streets to watch the spectacle was dramatically larger, apparently in response to advance reporting by the local media.
The parade was heavy on colorful drag queens riding atop cars. But there was also a mariachi band, a group carrying a humongous rainbow flag, bears, club boys, lesbians, and many activists from San Diego and Los Angeles.
For more information, phone the gay center at 011-52-664-685-9163 or organizer Alejandro García at 011-52-664-680-9963.