This huge, boisterous Pride party may well be the country’s best-kept queer secret

Sunday, June 30, 2024

620 Jones, 620 Jones Street, SF CA 94102

12 PM – 7 PM

The annual Juanita MORE! Pride Party, a San Francisco institution only slightly less elevated than cable cars, is celebrating 20 years. This party is more than just a lot of fun. It is one of Pride Weekend’s most significant nonprofit events.

Each year, Juanita takes great pleasure in selecting some of our community’s most impactful organizations as beneficiaries. Over the past three decades, the community has raised well over $1 million for local charities by supporting events.

This year, the grand diva has chosen the LYRIC Center of LGBTQQ Youth (Lavender Youth Recreation and Information Center) in the San Francisco Bay Area as my annual Pride Party beneficiary. 

“I have an immense amount of respect for our queer elders and a responsibility to empower our queer youth,” Juanita told GayCities. “Our community has thrived because of the brave generations before us; those legends planted the seeds of love, compassion, strength, and resilience. My duty as a community leader is to keep those planted seeds alive.”

“I want to keep building our future by supporting our queer youth in their quest to carry on the legacy of our queer elders.”

On the eve of this great party’s 20th anniversary, GayCities asked Juanita to share each official party poster and narrate the highlights of the parties, year over year, starting in 2004.

 JM! Pride 2004

Artist: Jeff Gardner, David Holland

2004 was the first year of what was to become my annual Pride party. Though I had been actively participating in SF Pride, it was time to create a space for my friends and me. The MOREboys and I dressed up and walked around the Civic Center, taking photos with everyone. Then we headed to Soluna and had a great rest of the day. AIDS Benefit Counselors was the beneficiary.

JM! Pride 2005

Artist: Pinky Ring

Benefiting: Tenderloin AIDS Resource Center

In 2005, I was named Community Grand Marshal by SF Pride and drove down Market Street in a gorgeous vintage car flanked by the entire House of MORE! Family. It was indeed an honor. Then we headed to The Phoenix Hotel for the party! Tenderloin AIDS Resource Center was the beneficiary.

JM! Pride 2006

Artist: Pinky Ring

In 2006, we settled into The Phoenix Hotel with comfort. It was an oasis with its indoor/outdoor space and swimming pool. The day party went on late into the night, benefiting the Tenderloin AIDS Resource Center.

JM! Pride 2007

Artist: Spike

In 2007, I named the Harvey Milk Public Monument project at San Francisco City Hall as my annual Pride party beneficiary. A monumental bronze bust of Milk— who was the first openly gay politician to be elected to public office in California, later becoming a hero of the gay rights movement—would be dedicated in the rotunda of City Hall at the top of the grand staircase; the ceremony was held on Milk’s birthday, May 22, in 2008. The sculpture would be the first-ever depiction of an openly gay elected official permanently placed in a civic institution.

JM! Pride 2008

Artist: Ariel Dunitz-Johnson

In 2008, outreach to the community to support what was becoming an annual party was overwhelming. Local businesses donated whatever they could, making this party feel like a community. The beneficiary was for New Leaf’s Outreach to Elders program. We couldn’t have been more proud to support their work.

JM! Pride 2009

Artist: Matthew Benedict

In 2009, I flew to New York to be photographed by artist Matthew Benedict for the year’s pride poster. The image depicts me with one of my MOREboys sharing a kiss. It can be magic when talented people collaborate and contribute their knowledge to a project or mission –– turning those endeavors into something extraordinary. The Transgender Law Center was the year’s beneficiary. 2009 was the first of many years that I brought the Cougar Cadet Drumline to perform.

JM! Pride 2010

Artist: Timothy Cummings

In 2010, The Phoenix Hotel and Bambuddha Lounge closed for remodeling, so we moved the party to Mission Rock Resort, a waterfront bar and restaurant overlooking San Francisco Bay. It was a glorious backdrop for a spectacular day benefiting Bay Positives, established in 1990 as the first peer-run, peer-driven HIV/AIDS Youth Advocacy Nonprofit Organization in the world.

JM! Pride 2011

Artist: Jonathan Solo

In 2011, we asked the Cougar Cadet Drumline from Alameda to come and perform. This youth drum corps stole the show that day, marching into the event and playing their hearts out. It was magical, and I continue to support them year after year. GSA Network was the beneficiary of the 2011 Pride Party.

JM! Pride 2012

Artist: Jim Winters

2012 would be our last year at The Phoenix Hotel / Bambuddha Lounge. It was by far the busiest of the JM! Pride parties to date. And we did it up in style! The SF LGBT Center was the year’s beneficiary.

JM! Pride 2013

Artist: Serge Gay Jr.

2013 brought us to our current venue, 620 Jones. The venue features a striking indoor/outdoor event space with four bars, two levels, and an expert sound system, ensuring the party goes all day and night. The rooftop at Jones boasts one of my absolute favorite views of the heart of Downtown San Francisco. That year, we supported the great work at OutLoud Radio, which gave LGBTQ+ and allied youth the skills and confidence to represent themselves and helped them change the world by amplifying their stories through radio broadcasting.

JM! Pride 2014

Artist: Sean Freitas 

Working with Mr. David Couture on my outfits is always a joy, as we inspire and push each other to create the fantastic. Inspiration for this gorgeous silk floral ensemble came from the notion of celebrating our queer history. The 70s brought crowds of people to San Francisco seeking a place to feel free and be authentically themselves. We turned to The Cockettes, an avant-garde psychedelic hippie theater group founded by Hibiscus in 1969. The group were pioneers in creating an eclectic style of dress and costume that had not been seen before.

JM! Pride 2015

Artist: Tennessee Loveless

In 2015, we worked with the team from Ken Fulk Design, whose artistry and creativity conjured up a cinematic experience of a lady, her throne, and the decadent surroundings of a shared community.

JM! Pride 2016

Artist: Sam Flores

It was just ten days before SF Pride 2016 when we got news that 49 individuals were massacred at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. It was a solemn celebration, and we honored each of their lives by releasing 49 monarch butterflies.

JM! Pride 2017

Artist: J. Manuel Carmona

My team and I love planning the venue design for Pride Sunday. 2017, we took inspiration from The Wizard of Oz and the Rainbow.

JM! Pride 2018

Artist: Koak

This year, we decided to have a day and night party. We chose SVN West, the site of the famed rock n’ roll venue – Fillmore West, where the likes of the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Santana, and countless others, and also where Aretha Franklin recorded her legendary live album in 1971.

JM! Pride 2019

Artist: BiP

The music was a blast this year and a special treat for me. I brought two DJs, Bobby Viteritti and Steve Fabus, representing my formative coming-out nightclub years in San Francisco at Trocadero Transfer and the IBeam.

People’s March & Rally, 2020

Artist: Serge Gay Jr.

From the beginning of the year, the lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing. On May 25, George Floyd Jr., a black American man, was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was a wake-up call. Activist and community leader Alex U. Inn and I, in support of Black Lives Matter, Trans, Queer, and Drag communities, called out human and racial injustice and demanded much-needed changes to keep our communities safe with a March & Rally.

JM! Pride 2021

Artist: Simon Malvaez

Benefiting: SF Bay Area Nightlife Fund & The Imperial Court of San Francisco

With the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions lifted, the Pride party felt like a huge welcome home. It was a joy to see and hug everyone in person. There were smiles on everyone’s faces all day.

JM! Pride 2022

Artist: Eyelien

Benefiting: Q Foundation

At the 2022 Pride party, we celebrated dance through burlesque and ballet and the power of our drag king culture.

JM! Pride 2023

Artist: Daniel Arzola 

The 2023 Pride party was a magical day with performances inspired by the culture within our community. And the DJs did not let up!

JM! Pride 2024

Artist: Joseph Abatti

Join us in this celebration of love and community and for supporting the great work at the LYRIC Center for LGBTQQ Youth. They hold the voices of our future.

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