Local drag queens descended on San Francisco’s Union Square and Mission Dolores Park amid a national wave of anti-drag, anti-trans legislation.
After what felt like an endless deluge of wet weather and cloudy overcast, the skies around San Francisco have been opening up as of late, showcasing the city’s postcard-worthy atmospheric blues. On Easter Sunday, it was a picture-perfect day overlooking Mission Dolores Park in San Francisco — where gaggles of humans gathered for the day’s left-of-center frivolity as the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence held their annual Hunky Jesus Competition.
Terrible weather for Hunky Jesus pic.twitter.com/YiXIBLy1jY
— karl the fog (@KarlTheFog) April 9, 2023
An estimated 10,000 attendees gathered at the 16-acred park Sunday, April 9th, to celebrate Easter Sunday. Sister Roma and Honey Mahogany, who were both at the Drag Up! Fight Back! rally just a day prior, hosted what might’ve been the most-attended iteration of the event, to date.
“This might be our biggest crowd ever,” said Roma to a crowd that seemed to stretch on into affinity.
There were 50 contestants for the 2023 Hunky Jesus competition — the largest pool of contenders in recent memory. And after a collection of truly raucous displays of blasphemy (that could only happen in San Francisco), Haus of Jesus and his bunnies were crowned the winners; one of the rabbits was seen holding a sign that read “Can I Get a Gaymen?” during the performance, which was a *chef’s kiss* spin on religious colloquialism.
I was living in the moment, but the few pics I got were gritty, raw real and powerful. These streets fight back with a lil fun.👊🏽 pic.twitter.com/SInp6jvYn9
— ShakiraLaw (@ShakiraLaw86) April 9, 2023
Prior to the display of queerness Sunday, an equally LGBTQIA+-minded assemblage took place in downtown San Francisco during the aforementioned march and rally. At least a thousand drag enthusiasts, queerdos, and allies attend the four-hour event, which featured guest speakers (like CA Senator Scott Wiener) and drag performances (SF’s own pop-up drag queen wowed the crowd) at a sun-soaked Union Square.
One of the more cementing lines spoken during the rally came from no other than co-organizer and drag-extraordinaire, Juanita MORE!: “It’s more important than ever to share your story, your queerness, your humanity. To your family, to your friends, to your coworkers. Show them how your queerness brightens your life and helps make you the extortionary person you are. Put a face to representation. In some cases, you could be the only LGBTQIA+ person that person you just told your story to knows. What a gift that would be to show them how fantastic is to be queer.”
What else transpired over the weekend? Let’s take a look.
Bob Lee’s death is tragic — and made worse by it being used as political ammunition. In the wake of the Cash App founder’s murder, which occurred around 2:30 p.m. last weekend on a rather sketchy part of SoMa, SF-based PACs like GrowSF and conservative-leaning techies have co-opted his death as a means to pedal policy and even call for financial support for upcoming elections. More info.
A five-year-old was confirmed as the victim of a fatal shooting on a Bay Area freeway this past Saturday. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) said they were called at 6:40 p.m. about a freeway shooting; CHP officers found a vehicle on the southbound I-880 in Milpitas, and the parents were in the car and said their daughter was struck by gunfire; the young girl was transported to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead; the investigation is still ongoing and might be gang-related. More info.
Here’s just how much California’s snowpack has grown in a year. From this time in April 2022, new satellite images published by the National Weather Services show just how much it’s grown in twelve months (spoiler alert: it’s *a lot*), while simultaneously highlighting the severe floods that are likely to come when all that frozen precipitation melts. More info.
Feature image: Courtesy of [at]karlthefog on Twitter
