By now you’ve probably heard that Pink Saturday, the eve-of-Pride event that has taken over the Castro for the past 20 years, has effectively sashayed away. Increasingly massive crowds, public intoxication, and sporadic violence spurred the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to nix their stewardship this year.
Sister Selma Soul has participated in Pink Saturday for the last 17 years and was in charge of the event for the last three. She noted that while her organization is bowing out of the leadership role, nobody owns Pink Saturday and it’s basically in suspended animation, waiting for someone else to apply for a street closure permit. “If someone gets a permit and they want our advice, we’d offer it, but we wouldn’t be working the event,” she told me.
The Sisters’ inability to guarantee volunteers’ safety is what drove them to vote overwhelmingly against continuing. That’s a shame since Pink Saturday has also been a significant fundraiser. As Sister Selma said, “In any given year, we’d be committed to $16,000-$25,000 in grants,” plus another $10,000-$15,000 out of the Sisters’ general grants fund. It’s worth noting that although she expressed sadness and disappointment over the event’s demise, throughout our conversation she was also upbeat and free of resentment, even speaking respectfully about those who “created challenges” in years past.
And challenges there were. Pink Saturday had been growing exponentially. Originally occupying the two-block radius around Castro and 18th Streets, it eventually expanded to incorporate the Dyke March and later swelled far beyond that. “Social media has caused the event to explode," Sister Selma said. "[People] tweet something or post something, you know, ‘fun stuff, free party!’”
As a result, Pink Saturday was “always on the cusp of losing money.” Production costs kept galloping ahead, such that in 2014 the Sisters paid more than $15,000 for 80 private security guards — these in addition to the cops the city provides — only to feel the expense was wasted. "Last year, with assaults that happened, there was no one around, no one to stop the fights," Sister Selma said, alluding to a Sister and her husband who were taunted and attacked by a group of assailants. Even worse, although the Sisters solicit donations, many people treat Pink Saturday like a free block party. As Sister Selma said, "If everyone gave up a dollar, we would have raised $150,000 instead of $80,000. We ask for $10, so that means that 8,000 people donated," out of the many thousands more who attended.
“We realized these were challenges that come from how the vibe of the event changes drastically once it gets dark,” Sister Selma told me. “When there’s no realization of what kind of community event it is, and people are just showing up to have fun, you wind up with fights. We can do as much messaging as we want in the community, but we’re not having an effect with the people who create the challenges.”
I asked Sister Selma if past years' violence — including the 2010 shooting of 19-year-old basketball star Stephen Powell — caused the city to breathe fire down the Sisters’ backs. “No, no, no!” she said, laughing. “The city totally appreciated the event."
"When you look at the violence compared to a 49ers game, it’s nothing. It just got harder and harder every year to persuade the group to continue doing it. I would work it again but I can’t ask my Sisters to do the same.”
For its part, the city did appreciate the event and even waived many fees. Supervisor Scott Wiener released a media statement expressing gratitude for the Sisters’ many years of hard work. They “managed the event through some very trying years, and they did it solely because of their passion for the community. We all owe the Sisters a big ‘thank you,'" he wrote.
This year, however, San Francisco is expecting a larger-than-usual Pride. Owing to “a possible pro-marriage Supreme Court ruling in late June,” as Wiener puts it, we could see spontaneous crowds massing in the Castro and texting their friends to join them. Wiener is “optimistic that we will have a path forward” but notes that alternatives such as earlier start and end times are being batted around as options to keep Pink Saturday from going full-on SantaCon.
This leaves a vacuum, with only four months to go.
What happens if tens of thousands of people stream into the Castro and absolutely nobody is in charge? There will be some police presence, but that’s hardly the only logistical concern. A total lack of Porta-Potties, for instance, won’t deter people from drinking to excess in public. And last year’s official 10:15 p.m. end time undoubtedly reminded some revelers of their middle school curfew, so they blew right past it. (Anecdotally, I hear whispers in the LGBT community that the shitshow formerly regarded as a wonderful day is just too much. I remember walking home along Market at 1:30 a.m. on Pink Saturday 2013 when it was still freakishly warm and totally packed; I got punched in the head). So without the nuns’ imprimatur, what’s left?
There is no daylight between Sister Selma and Supervisor Wiener here; the city wants the event to continue. Certainly the SFPD isn't working double-time to suppress Pink Saturday the way it sought to stamp out Halloween. But somebody is going to have to step up, if only because the prospect of San Francisco hosting a major LGBT event that many LGBT San Franciscans skip because of violence is too upsetting.
Photo courtesy of Melissa Gira/Flickr
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