United by Pride
38th Annual San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade & Celebration - 06.28/29.2008

In this issue:

- Music and Performance in the City by the Bay
- Virgin America Proudly Supports the San Francisco Pride Parade &
Celebration
- Iranian Lesbian Asylum-Seeker Faces Deportation in Britain
- Grand Marshal Nominees Announced
- Joie de Vivre Offers Discounted Room Rates
- Pride Night at Teatro Zinzanni
- Same-Sex Marriage Ban Hits California Supreme Court
- Curve magazine + Dani Campbell: Issue Release Party
- Hotel Whitcomb

Music and Performance in the City by the Bay

Depending on where one is from and what one's interests are, one person's reaction to a city can be very different from another's. One thing that everyone can agree upon is that San Francisco is a city with many faces. Indeed, there could be no better way to describe the City by the Bay.

	The San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band Photo Credit: Jane Cleland

But rock is not the only musical genre to which San Francisco has made a significant contribution. The Fillmore District is also widely renowned for the contributions of African-American musicians and artists to the city's jazz legacy. Jazz legends such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Louis Armstrong all performed in the Fillmore District. A recent resurgence in independently owned jazz clubs in the area are a sure draw for any music fan and a continuation of this neighborhood's contribution to the fabric of the City's arts and culture.

San Francisco is also home to the world's first openly LGBT musical organization the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band, which was founded with the intent of having a marching band to perform in the annual Pride celebration. San Francisco also features a number of other LGBT music groups such as the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco, the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, and the Gay, Lesbian & Allied Musicians Youth Choir, among others.

San Francisco's avant garde artist community is perhaps a key marker of the city's identity. San Francisco is home to a thriving theater improvisation community. Locals also take pride in the grass roots performing arts community that has staged a number of stirring and successful productions by local artists that began with performances in garages to small, intimate audiences.

Also of note in the City's vibrant arts scene is the Oberlin Dance Company (ODC) and Robert Moses' Kin. Both dance companies have helped carve an undeniably San Franciscan imprint into the national contemporary dance scene. These companies are a must-see for any dance enthusiast.

For more information about where to stay and how to get around San Francisco, visit our Hotel & Visitor's Guide on the San Francisco Pride website.


Virgin America Proudly Supports the San Francisco Pride Parade and Celebration

We are making flying good again and bringing great service back to the skies.

Let's not forget style, entertainment and relaxation - all for an astonishingly reasonable fare.

MUSIC. TV. GAMES. MOVIES. AND MORE. THIS IS HOW TO FLY.

Grab a seat at virginamerica.com.

To learn more visit: www.virginamerica.com


Iranian Lesbian Asylum-Seeker Faces Deportation in Britain

Photo Credit: Outrage! London

Emambakhsh may be forcibly returned to Iran after losing her latest attempt for asylum status, which came just days after a rising tide of public outcry surrounding a gay Iranian teenager - also seeking asylum in the UK - who fears execution if he is returned to his home country.

19 year-old Mehdi Kazemi fled to the Netherlands after the UK Home Office denied his application for asylum. A Dutch Court later mandated Kazemi's return to the UK citing the European Union's constitutional requirement that the country where a foreign national first enters the EU be the country responsible for processing any asylum claims lodged by that immigrant.

Both cases have provoked public outcry and Kazemi's case even caught the attention of the European Parliament. LGBT rights groups claim that Emambakhsh and Kazemi's cases are but a few examples of dozens of cases regarding LGBT asylum-seekers in Britain.

In denying Emambakhsh's and Kazemi's cases, the Home Office indicated that so long as Iranian LGBTs remain 'discreet' about their sexuality, they would not be persecuted. The implication is that the Home Office need not guarantee Iranian LGBT people asylum in the UK since LGBT persecution could theoretically be avoided by being discreet.

Joie de Vivre Offers Discounted Room Rates

Thursday, March 27
6:00pm
Pier 29 on The Embarcadero

Teatro Zinzanni invites the LGBT community to experience a bewitching evening of European Cabaret and Cirque, Divas and Madmen, Spectacle and Sensuality with Live Music and a Gourmet Five-Course Dinner - set in the nightclub of your dreams! Celebrate the Queer community with Teatro Zinzanni!

Tickets for this spectacular event are discounted at $99 and space is limited. To purchase your tickets call TZ's box office at 415-438-2668. Click here for more information.


Challenge to Same-Sex Marriage Ban Hits California Supreme Court

The California Supreme Court heard closing arguments about the state's ban on same-sex marriage on March 4. The opening arguments have come on the heels of the 4-year anniversary of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's order allowing marriage licenses to be issued to same-sex couples in what has been dubbed the "Winter of Love." It was in August of that same year that the state Supreme Court nullified those marriage certificates, which brought on a series of legal challenges that have since been working their way through the court system.

Dance the night away with DJ Chelsea Starr, and Curve, the nation's best-selling lesbian magazine. March 28 from 9pm-1am at the stylish Hotel Kabuki, San Francisco.