SAN FRANCISCO— Two out of twelve protestors were arrested during the San Francisco Pride parade on Sunday, June 30 after attempting to block off Market Street.
After 11:00 a.m., a dozen protesters blocked off Market Street in observation of the 50 year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots by laying in the street and linking their arms underneath rainbow colored pipes. They were planning on sitting at the intersection of Market Street and Taylor Street for 50 minutes.
Two protestors were arrested after one protestor allegedly struggled with officers from the San Francisco Police Department, leading to the office being injured.
Taryn Saldivar, 21, from Oakland and Kenneth Bilecki, 27, from Santa Rosa were arrested. Bilecki was arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest and interfering with a parade route. Saldivar was arrested on suspicion of battery on a police officer, resisting arrest and interfering with a parade route.
According to information passed out at during the pride event, the protestors list of demands included:
- No police within the Pride Parade and no police presence at any Pride celebration, march, or demonstration. Permanently remove police foot patrols from Compton’s Transgender Cultural District. The system of policing upholds white supremacy, hetero-patriarchy, gender binaries, and capitalist rule.
- Immediately release trans people currently being held in the SF Jail and work with No New SF Jail Coalition towards decarceration efforts and community rather than cages to close 850 Bryant.
- No corporations in Pride. They profit from our communities while simultaneously exploiting, investing, and benefiting from the Prison Industrial Complex, which disproportionately impacts black and brown communities.
- Celebrate, center, and protect the most marginalized within the LGBTQ2S community; Black and Brown trans women. Ensure the Pride board includes and prioritizes the decisions of black trans women, people with disabilities, formerly incarcerated people, and unhoused people.
- Immediately end the harassment and sweeps of houseless encampments and houseless people. 1/3 of youth experiencing homelessness identify as LGBTQ2S and we will not allow the city to continue to terrorize, ticket them, and steal their belongings.
- Make Pride accessible for the disabled communities. We need more wheelchair space, more seating space as well as paid volunteers to support accessibility needs.
- Acknowledge the colonization of the land we host Pride upon and acknowledge that “San Francisco” is Yelamu Ohlone territory.
- Corporations prove their solidarity by meeting demands and immediately financially support and house trans women in San Francisco.
A spokesperson for the SFPD, Pride Event organizations spoke to protestors and at 12 p.m, they left the street for the parade to finish.