Those attending this month’s Pride Parade down San Francisco’s Market Street won’t fail to notice a pronounced Jewish participation. The June 30 celebration will include contingents from several synagogues and Jewish agencies from around the Bay Area.
Serving as the “Lifetime Achievement” grand marshal is Alvin Baum, a respected Jewish philanthropist and a real mensch.
Baum earned his place with several others at the head of the parade, having done much for the fight against AIDS as well as numerous Jewish and LGBT causes.
Since Baum first took to the streets of San Francisco decades ago demanding the same rights for the gay community enjoyed by other Americans, we have seen enormous social progress. Hostility and marginalization have turned to tolerance, which in turn has evolved into acceptance and embrace.
The proverbial tipping point appears to have been reached.
The fight for marriage equality, which began formally in San Francisco with former Mayor Gavin Newsom’s short-lived legalization of same-sex marriage, has now become an unstoppable state-by-state march to justice. The abhorred “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in the military has been scrapped. Homophobia is in retreat.
In retreat, but far from gone. When it comes to full equality and the eradication of anti-gay prejudice, much remains to be done, both domestically and around the world.
As our page 14 story this week shows, a new Pew study found that in Israel, only 40 percent of respondents feel society should accept gays and lesbians. That’s compared with 60 percent in the United States and a whopping 88 percent in Spain.
The number shrinks to single digits in countries such as Jordan, Egypt and Indonesia, as well as the Palestinian territories, where acceptance of homosexuality actually has decreased, from 9 percent in 2007 to a meager 4 percent today.
Here at home, we still see politicians and religious leaders rail against the evil of homosexuality. When the Boy Scouts decided last month to partially rescind the organization’s odious anti-gay policies, some churches angrily renounced their participation in Scouting — even as others embraced the change.
That’s why traditions such as Pride Month and the Pride Parade matter. Wherever they are observed, they loudly proclaim that the haters have no power.
Congratulations to Al Baum on this honor. Let’s hope that this year’s Pride celebration — the 43rd annual — hastens the day when we see full equality in our communities.