S1: Welcome in San Diego , it's Jade Hindman. On today's show , San Diego Pride has a new executive director. She joins us to share her vision for the organization. This is KPBS Midday Edition , connecting our communities through conversation. Welcome back to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. In some local nonprofit news , San Diego Pride has named a brand new executive director. Her name is Leanne Marquez. She's from Encinitas and joins me now to share her goals for the position. Leanne , welcome to Midday Edition.
S2: Thanks for having me. I so appreciate being a part of the show.
S1: So glad to have you here with us. So first of all , I mean big congratulations to you. You know , what was your immediate reaction to being offered the executive director role.
S2: Disbelief really at first , because it is such a the process was so intensive. Um , really included an enormous amount of people. Um , as you can imagine , getting the community weighed in. The staff , volunteers and the board , uh , disbelief and then absolute joy. Um , and and honor. Really ? Um , it's a privilege to have the opportunity to lead this organization that is such an iconic part of our community. Um , both the community on a regional level as well as the LGBTQIA community. Yeah.
S1: Yeah.
S2: And we do that on a local and national and a global level. You know , our vision is a world , uh , free of discrimination and bias. So that is that is the very essence at the core of what San Diego Pride is. Uh , we we pursue that mission , uh , by creating , uh , safe , uh , places where we're LGBTQIA and allies , uh , can celebrate , uh , and also continue our protests , continue that diligent , um , uh , social justice and advocacy that is so important to our community.
S1:
S2: And as you said though , we've made tremendous strides , there is still more work to be done. Uh , you know , we can we can really , you know , feel that , uh , extremism sometimes , you know , biting at our heels. And we need to continue the advocacy efforts. In fact , we right now are in , uh , engaged in a , you know , voter advocacy to get folks to register , to vote , to make a plan to vote , uh , trying to really make sure that at the very grassroots of what we're doing on our year round programs , that we're getting people engaged , uh , engaged in the process because we never know when we may have to , uh , really rise up , uh , and , and get that fight , uh , to the community again. Yeah.
S1: Yeah.
S2: Uh , so the vision that I have is really an extensive , uh , connection with the community. Uh , to understand community needs , to understand needs from the staff , the board , the volunteers , so we can build a strategic plan , uh , again , to take us to three , five , ten years in the future.
S1:
S2: Uh , you know , the intersectionality of our organization , uh , continues to grow as people feel the personal autonomy to be who they are , to express themselves as they are and to crave , uh , the opportunity to have , say , you know safe spaces to do that. We as a community and , you know , within the San Diego region. You know , we have over 350,000 individuals who identify as LGBTQIA. That's a big group , a lot of intersectionality. So I would say that we are really focused on unity , on coming together as a community and really focusing on that in the events and certainly Pride Week and all the other events that we do throughout the year.
S1: Well , San Diego Pride has been a staple of our community for many years. The first lesbian and gay parade in San Diego was formed in 1974 , but pride was officially started as a non-profit in the 90s.
S2: And that really has grown not only from Pride Week , where it's become more than just a parade or even a festival. But now we have the rally. We have , you know , she fest. We have other events that are happening during Pride Week and then throughout the year. So coming up in September. Later September 21st , we have Latin Pride , which is happening in Barrio Logan and hosting a safe , inclusive environment for the LGBTQIA community Latin community to come together. So we'll continue to do that through our youth programs and also , you know , programs that are focusing on different coalitions within our community. So I've seen pride grow from just an individual weekend event , uh , to expanding that pride week and then also expanding throughout the year to continue to provide inclusive and safe spaces to protest , to celebrate and find joy within our community.
S1: Well , you have a lot of prior nonprofit profit experience before the issue worked for a life science nonprofit addressing poverty and inequality in San Diego. What have you learned ? Works well for running a successful nonprofit.
S2: What works well is supporting the team. I think we have a tremendously passionate , um , committed team of staff , volunteers and board members. And , you know , my job really is to provide that support and shape that passion into sustainability and growth for the organization. I have really found , uh , throughout my , I guess , years within the nonprofit space , that that leadership is just a key component , um , and making sure that people have a voice and a connection to both myself , the board , the community , and our team. Uh , we really want to keep those pathways of communication open , to continue to engage the community and make sure that we are hearing and lifting up those voices to help shape uh , and grow the impact of San Diego pride.
S1: And you touched on this earlier. Um , but the organization promises to uphold inclusivity , equality , justice. How will you further that mission ? I know earlier you mentioned voter registration efforts. Talk a bit more about some of the things you're doing.
S2: Well , I mean , currently right now we have a community survey , um , to help us , uh , you know , plan for 2025 pride. We're inviting the community. We've gotten hundreds of responses. Uh , we're very excited about extending that into September and hearing back from the community on what we can do specifically for Pride Week. Uh , in addition to that , will be embarking on a strategic planning process that will not only include our internal , um , opportunities to for engagement with our volunteers , our staff and our board , but will extend into the community and invite folks to come into a community workshop , if you will. Um , to give feedback on how they see pride evolving. Um , I'll be hosting an open house coming up in the next couple of weeks for folks to come down , especially volunteers , to come down and and meet me and get to know who I am and most importantly , have me get to know who they are. So having opportunities for this two way communication. You know , I really come at this work with a tremendous amount of humility around the fact that pride is the community's organization. Uh , and really representing that in making sure that that there's two way communication about what that is. So those are those are just some things that will be , um , doing to really reach out into the community , get feedback and get people involved. Because this is this is everybody's pride , right ? It's the entire community. It belongs to all of us and beyond. Uh , Hillcrest and and , you know , into the region and into communities within different , uh , friend groups or families and , and others. You know , we want to invite everyone to be a part of pride. And that will be one of my goals to make that happen. Yeah.
S3: Yeah.
S1: Well , you mentioned that intersectionality is a really central pillar of Pride's work. Lay that out for me and what intersectional advocacy looks like.
S2: I come at this every day , um , from a learning mentality to hear and listen to what different groups are really representing in our community. Um , you know , I think we are a diverse community representing many intersectionality identities , and there may not always be a coalescing around that. Right. We need to continue the conversations and bring that up , either whether it's a generational or just life experience. And really what's important to me is that we always have a space for dialogue , uh , and ultimately remain committed , um , to lifting up each other. Uh , and I think that is something to always be aware of and to understand what is the intersectionality within our community. What do each one of those letters , you know , that we have that represents our intersectionality represent ? And I believe that we have to continue the conversations , uh , continue coming together in order to uplift every one of those voices , young , old , LGBTQIA. And that is a big tent. Uh , so the goal is to have a space for everyone , uh , especially , uh , whether it's a family member , a friend yourself. Uh , we want to make sure that everyone in the community has a space at San Diego Pride. Yeah.
S3: Yeah. Well , what.
S1:
S2: Uh , one of the things that I have found in my experience as a volunteer , as a former board member at San Diego Pride and just recently as a volunteer , uh , you know , I had a , a , a person who came up to me and shared that they uh , they have a family member who's identifies as trans decided to bring that family member to pride. Uh , and this is an aunt. Uh , so , uh , she was very proud , uh , to to be supportive of her , you know , uh , I guess the coming out of this family member and , and they were very important to her , uh , and to have a place where she could go and be supportive and be a supportive ally , uh , and they could go together was very important. And I. When I see that , I realize that there's a very important role for allies to play. You know , have a two sons myself and understand from a family perspective what other families are addressing , uh , within the LGBTQIA spectrum , whether , you know , we're looking at , uh , you know , youth movement and , and , uh , transgender , you know , kids who really have a lot of questions and families are really doing everything they can to be supportive. And we always want to be a supportive place , uh , for allies and our entire community.
S3: Yeah , well.
S1: There's support , and then there's there's also the issue of safety. Um , you know , earlier this year , a series of drive by pellet gun shootings targeted LGBTQ+ businesses in Hillcrest. This past weekend , at least four people were hit with gel pellets in the same neighborhood.
S2: Um , that , um , is just something that is an as a , as a community. It's not something new to us. Um , you know , it's something that we've experienced before. Um , and it's traumatizing for the community. Um , I think that , uh , something that occurs to any one of us occurs to all of us. And at pride , we're really focused on creating a safe environment where we're aware of what happened over the weekend , and unfortunately , these types of incidences are on the rise. So we have to be very diligent in our security plans , which we are , that include , you know , both law enforcement but also even more robustly as a community. You know , what do we do to keep each other safe ? What do we do to empower and engage our community to be aware , um , to make sure that they're , uh , doing their best to celebrate , enjoy life , be themselves in safe places. And that's what San Diego Pride , uh , really focuses on , is creating those environments.
S3: Yeah , well , what.
S1:
S2: And as a community , we also are coming together. Um , you know , certainly our organizations both in the business community and our sister organizations with within the LGBTQIA space are are continuously talking about how we make sure that our community is safe and that we are creating these safe spaces. Um , you know , San Diego Pride has a very robust , uh , safety and security plan , uh , for , for really all of our events. Um , and we work in , in a way that is , uh , well , I mean , definitely , um , the ecosystem that we work in is both law enforcement and community , and we come together around that to create a safety plan for the event.
S1: This is KPBS Midday Edition. We're back after the break. Welcome back to KPBS Midday Edition. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. I am here with Leanne Marquez. She is the new executive director of San Diego Pride. Well , I want to talk about youth activists because they're at the forefront of the fight for LGBTQ plus rights in San Diego and beyond.
S2: Um , certainly the Youth Leadership Summit is something that we have been working on and invite youth from all over the region to participate in , um , and having an opportunity to also have allies and even family members included in that is something that we continue to to have a focus on. Um , and we will continue to focus on our youth programming , um , to make sure that we have that available for young people , not just within our central area , within San Diego , but throughout the region as well.
S1: And we talk about youth , but we can't forget about the elders.
S2: When I was the executive Director of Elder Help , I created and kind of worked on a collaborative and collaborative , uh , you know , coalition to focus on LGBT older adults. Um , you know , there really is a loss of opportunity , um , on what we do with elders within our community , especially at that time. Um , and I think we want to elevate the importance of the legacy that , um , older adults with , especially within our communities and leaders , have contributed to pride. Um , so that is something that I think one of the visions that I have is to really take a look at how we can integrate different generations in the programming , um , especially around our youth , youth voices programming love to see an intergenerational , um roundtable come together where you can really hear what the history has been. Um , you know , and hear from folks who were there at the beginning of pride at those beginning days to really share the vision and make sure that we keep this legacy going from generation to generation. So I have a hopefully , a vision to honor that by some intergenerational programming , which I think would be really powerful. Provide. Excellent.
S3: Excellent.
S1:
S2: Uh , and certainly something I shared on my journey. Um , you know , I remember I grew up in Encinitas. Uh , kind of hometown girl and , uh , really grew up , uh , in a space that wasn't very inclusive. But I really had heard about pride. And I remember my first pride of I wrote down on the bus , I found a way to get down there , um , by myself. And I was able to go to the festival , and I kind of remember , you know , just walking through the festival and just being amazed and then coming over and seeing the stage and seeing LGBTQ folks coming together and being together for themselves. And it was completely empowering. Um , just really empowered me in such a way that made me feel like I'm going to be okay , and I'm going to I have a place to go. I have a place to feel safe. I have a community that I can turn to. And , uh , it gave me a tremendous amount of confidence. And I continued with my engagement with pride , both as a volunteer and of course , have gone to several prides , um , and also on the board , um , and been a part of , uh , you know , I remember , uh , I believe it was 1994. I remember the tear gas incident. I was in the middle of that right on the curb , um , and just experiencing that and also experiencing microaggressions and , you know , having to kind of pretend I'm straight in different environments. I've been through that. I've been through that trauma And I have always , on the day of pride and the week of pride felt like , wow , I am so empowered on this day. I can be who I want in a safe space and love who I want. Um , that's a powerful thing. So pride has a great deal of importance to me personally , and I feel just again , privileged and honored , um , to be leading this organization.
S1:
S2: I am absolutely committed to the entire community and making sure that San Diego Pride is an organization that is inclusive and safe , and creates a space for , hopefully , millions of others to feel what I have felt at my first pride.
S1: I've been speaking with Leanne Marquez. She is the new executive director of San Diego Pride. Leanne , congratulations again and thank you so much for joining us today.
S2: My pleasure. Thank you.
