My daughter has a business meeting in San Francisco in June. At the end of the meeting we are staying a few more days for more sightseeing - after booking flights and hotel, we discovered it will be Gay Pride Week - how wild will it be? I am thinking that if the crowd is a bit too exuberiant for our tastes, there will be plenty to do in other parts of the city. Any posters with experience with this event? Thanks!

We had the same situation a few years ago while attending the ALA meeting. It was interesting, it was bit wild but not in any threatening way. Our hotel was right on the parade route and the hotel offered us a room on the back side but we keep our front row seat. If the concept of "Gay Pride" bothers you, you will be very bothered. Otherwise it was kind of fun.

There is a parade and after-parade activities, and that's about it. It's the last weekend of June, never knew it's a week-long now.

Just go to other parts, or out of the city. You can take ferry to Sausality. Muir Woods has a shuttle bus in the summer. The zoo or Legiong of Honor museum are far away from festivities. Take a bus tour to Yosemite or Monterey or rent a car and go to the wine country.

Gee, never knew there was a Gay Pride event at the airport!

Just kidding, but SFO is the official designation for San Francisco International Airport and you might be misunderstood if you continue to use SFO instead of S.F. or San Francisco.

There are two major events during Saturday and Sunday of Pride week. There will be a celebration at Civic Center Plaza on Saturday, June 28, and the parade itself is on Sunday, June 29. The parade starts at the Embarcadero and ends at the Civic Center. If I don't plan to attend these events, I do make sure to go roundabout them as much as possible just because the crowd can slow down my travel time.

The City will be full of people of all stripes who deliberately plan to be here during Pride Week - to express their exuberance, their relief, their profound joy in being someplace where they don't have to hide their true selves. You will see obvious same-sex couples everywhere here during Pride Week - but here in S.F. it's not a head-turner at any time of year. If you don't want to watch or attend the parade, fine - I don't most of the time any more. But if simply seeing a lot of same-sex couples bothers you, then prepared to be bothered.

Lots and I do mean lots of straight people with kids even watch the Parade, and you will not be exposed to anything more wild than you would see at Mardi Gras. I actually found Mardi Gras in New Orleans more wild because of all the drunks. If as dovima stated it is the idea of seeing lots of gay people bothers you, then yes prepared to be bothered. And if it is the idea that you might actually see gay couples acting like happy straight couples--hugging, holding hands or kissing--again prepared to be bothered.

I speak from Seattle, but am guessing it is similar. The Pride Parade(s) affect the specific parts of the city where they happen, not the entire metropolitan area! As a tourist, unless you seek it out, likely you would not even know it was going on.

I can be VERY WILD if you are not used to it. I used to live in the Bay Area (my father lives in Los Gatos) and my ex-husband lives in North Beach.

There will probably be nudity and you may even see some men getting bj's on the street. Just ignore it.

It is fun to watch all the train wrecks of people who have NO TASTE in clothing. I used to get threatened for criticizing the attire of drag queens.

"Oh, sweetie darling, you are wayyyyyyyy too fat for that faux Chanel cocktail dress!"

Thin

Over the years nudity I've seen, but that happens at the Bay to Breakers also; but actual sex acts, no. Now if you were talking about the Folsom Street Fair that would be different. But I suppose as large as the parade and audience is there are bound to be a few isolated acts. Again I have see more at Mardi Gras. I hate to harp on this, but public nudity and inappropriate behavior is not limited to the gay community, but somehow people always point to it as a sign that gays are immoral or worse.

I do know that some religious right organizations video only what they consider outrageous behavior and then portray the parade as only made up of this, so that many people believe that the Parade is something that they should not be exposed to. For the longest time even SF's news organizations focused on pictures of men in drag, but that has changed over the years.

I concur with SAB - having lived here for 35 years and never seen an actual sex act in public during Gay Pride Week or otherwise. FWIW, I was in Santa Fe last year during Gay Pride weekend, and the crowd was pretty much the same as in San Francisco, just a smaller scale (and concentrated around the Plaza area).

It could be interesting/fun or dreadful/embarrassing depending on your frame of mind. You know yourselves well enough which is likely to be which. If you know you'll bee upset or even mildly uncomfortable - just plan that weekend to visit Muir Woods or Wine country or Angel Island.

I would not want to see anyone having public sex....gay or hetero..get a room for goodness sake!!!