San Diego Pride is enhancing security measures for this weekend's celebrations as tens of thousands of people are expected to attend the annual event.
The Pride Parade, which brings out roughly more than 250,000 people every year, will kick off Saturday morning at the Pride Flag in Hillcrest.
With hate incidents against the LGBTQ+ community on the rise nationwide, San Diego Pride is implementing additional security protocols to ensure everyone's safety during the festivities.
The San Diego Police Department will increase patrols throughout the event areas, and Pride organizers are adding extra security personnel to boost monitoring beyond their normal precautions.
A significant change this year is that only clear bags will be permitted into the festival grounds.
"When you look around the country, there's an increase in hate crimes against all sorts of marginalized communities, specifically LGBTQ+ communities, immigrant populations, and it's important to us to make sure that everyone in our community is as safe as possible," a Pride organizer said.
Recent data from the nonprofit GLAAD shows alarming trends. From May 2024 to 2025, the organization tracked more than 900 hate incidents against the LGBTQ+ community, averaging 2.5 incidents per day. Just over half of these incidents targeted transgender and gender nonconforming individuals.
San Diego's FBI Field Office stated: "The FBI is committed to protecting all Americans from all walks of life as we remain focused on our core mission."
The agency encourages attendees to report any suspicious activity they may observe during the events.
The Pride Parade begins at 10 a.m., while the festival starts at noon on both Saturday and Sunday.
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