HILLCREST, Calif. (KGTV) — To the beat of music and the roaring of cheers, thousands of people marched to the streets of Hillcrest, with University Avenue covered with the colors of the rainbow.
"I don't have many friends that are gay like me, so it's very nice to come to something like this where I can find someone who's going to be like can say come join me, come stand with me, and that's a lot of what you're going to find at pride," said Juliet Allen, who's at her first San Diego Pride. She's drove down from Santa Ana to make friendships with others in the crowd.
"This is something that's so big that it's just gonna make you feel like you have to be involved," Allen said. "You're included in all of it because everybody's so friendly and nice and involving, and they just want you where they are, and I love that."
The crowd stretching as far as you could see with people showing up to celebrate unity in diversity.
"Community is so important and I think that when we're around other people who celebrate us and accept us who we are, it reminds us that we can do what we want to do, and that type of connection and reminders are of the utmost necessity," Allen said.
This year's theme: Unbreakable Pride and Unshakeable Power.
That's something Stephanie Peck can get behind. Peck said cultivating inclusive environments is particularly important in a divisive political climate.
"Things like this really remind us how important and how happy people can be when they're just themselves," Peck said. "And in our current climate, anything we can do to really like expose and elevate that feels really really important to me."
As for Allen, she said her mom always encouraged her to be herself no matter what, and that's part of what Pride is about — having the courage to never hide who you are.
"My mom was like always like very like, "Don't feel ashamed of what you are. Be free, be proud, be happy," so I'm very like, don't feel ashamed of what you are. You have to feel happy, be proud, you don't have to feel that shame," Allen said.
