San Jose's Annual Pride Festivities Focused On Health
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) — San Jose's Pride Celebration 2012, titled "Equality for Everyone," will kick off the 37th annual event on Friday with a news conference highlighting this year's health-focused theme.
"I see this year as an opportunity to change," said Nathan Svoboda, president of the Gay Pride Celebration of San Jose, which is organizing this weekend's event.
The pride celebration runs from noon to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Discovery Meadow Park, located at West San Carlos Street and Woz Way in San Jose.
Saturday's celebration is free while Sunday's event will cost $10 in advance or $20 at the gate.
Svoboda said that he hopes this year will be a step forward in the evolution of San Jose's gay pride event, one that he hopes will eventually bring together the many disparate factions of the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.
Along with being smoke-free, this year's event will have a Health and Wellness Pavilion providing services such as medical screenings and free HIV testing.
The health-focused theme of this year's event is due in part to a $5,000 grant from the nonprofit Breathe California, whose contribution funded LGBT-friendly classes to help people quit smoking.
Speakers at Friday's 3 p.m. news conference will include Santa Clara County Supervisors Ken Yeager and Dave Cortese, San Jose Councilmembers Kansen Chu and Ash Kalra and State Assemblymember Jim Beall.
(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services may have contributed to this report.)
