Former Pride GMs Speak Out

As former grand marshals of the San Francisco LGBT Pride parade vote a second time to select a grand marshal, several spoke out about the clumsy process that led the Pride board to name and then rescind grand marshal honors for WikiLeaks whistle-blower Bradley Manning.

In a May 7 statement the board of the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee said it was reopening the voting by former grand marshals in what's known as Pride's electoral college. The voting ends today (Thursday, May 16).

The two candidates are drag chanteuse BeBe Sweetbriar and gay Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal James Humes.

Manning, is the gay Army private accused of leaking 700,000 classified government documents to WikiLeaks. He was initially named a grand marshal late last month and Pride officials said he was the electoral college's choice. But the Pride board rescinded the honor two days later, claiming it was a "mistake." Since then, Manning's supporters have denounced the Pride board and demanded that Manning be reinstated.

Sister Roma, a community grand marshal by public vote in 2012, said in an email she did not vote for Manning the first time.

"The entire [Manning] debacle is the result of poor communication and a lack of leadership," said Roma, a longtime member of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. "I feel it was a mistake to allow Manning, who is under arrest for war crimes including aiding the enemy, which is a capital offense, to be nominated for grand marshal in the SF Pride Parade." The controversy, he said, "is an embarrassing blemish on SF Pride and San Francisco in general."

In a conciliatory message, Roma called for the LGBT community to unify for Pride. "Let's concentrate on the positives around Pride and get on with it."

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Victoria S. Kolakowski, 51, a community grand marshal in 2011, refrained from commenting on the Manning controversy. She said in an email she was among those former grand marshals who were not contacted by SF Pride the first time. Why was that the case?

Kolakowski explained to the Bay Area Reporter she had moved in 2012 and had also changed her email address. Though she notified SF Pride of her new contact information last week, she said she had not heard from staff for the second vote.

"I was told that I would receive a new ballot by e-mail and postal mail," she said. "I have not received either to date."

Gay South San Franciscan Robert Bernardo, a community grand marshal in 2006, said in an email he was concerned that his vote for grand marshal became public. He said he did not vote for Manning.

"If a person's vote is made public, it will make others in the future less likely to vote because they will be afraid that their selection(s) will be available for public scrutiny," he said.

"With regards to PFC Bradley Manning, I think history will be the ultimate judge. We must wait to see what happens during his June 2013 trial," Bernardo added.

Earlier this year Manning confessed to some of the charges against him but remains in a military prison awaiting a court-martial that's expected to begin next month.

Bernardo, 45, believes the community has been hurt by SF Pride's Manning controversy, which he said, "has caused a lot of confusion and hurt feelings both in the LGBTQ community and the veterans' community."

The controversy may have been worthwhile, Bernardo said, if "it gets us thinking about what 'pride' really means to each of us."

Though he may be out of town for Pride this year, Bernardo had some advice for SF Pride.

"Don't nominate people for grand marshal if you plan to later change your mind. In other words, all grand marshal nominees should be thoroughly vetted before they are announced grand marshal candidates."

Therese Stewart, chief deputy city attorney in San Francisco, was a community grand marshal in 2011. She said this week that she's been too busy working on issues related to the city's involvement in the federal Proposition 8 lawsuit to know much about the Manning controversy.

Stewart, 56, who identifies as lesbian, spoke only as a former grand marshal. She said SF Pride is a community organization and its decisions should reflect community views. As for SF Pride's process for selecting grand marshals, Stewart said she was unaware of the process and could not comment.

Those former grand marshals who supported Manning remain furious at the Pride board.

Joey Cain, 58, is a former Pride board president and past grand marshal. It was he who nominated Manning.

"An LGBT person who put his life on the line not only as a soldier but as a whistle-blower who exposed the lies of the United States military. He represents an aspect of the best of who we as LGBT people can be," Cain said of Manning.

Cain said the Pride board has "completely destroyed that organization's credibility in my eyes. I worry what other huge blunders are lurking under the surface if they handled this thing so badly."

Cain said that he would march in the Bradley Manning grand marshal contingent at Pride.

Several Manning supporters staged a mock Pride board meeting outside the organization's offices Tuesday evening. The group unanimously voted to reinstate Manning as a grand marshal.

Full disclosure: Victoria Kolakowski is the wife of Bay Area Reporter news editor Cynthia Laird.