St. James Park was alive with the bustling of music, chatter and shouts of protest on Saturday during the third annual San José People’s Pride Festival and March.
The event featured small business vendors, including Queer Colors and Eddy Atoms, musical performances and a march for transgender rights.
Across the park, attendees walked from booth to booth, observing and purchasing what vendors had to offer, including potted plants, custom artwork, original jewelry and clothes, and more.
A small stage for performances was set up next to North First Street for artists Mayday Mae, Hyper Heartz Collective and Marcelle and the Heartbreak Kids.
SJ People’s Pride collaborated with Community Service Organization San José, San José Against War, Freedom Road Socialist Organization San José, San José Coalition Against Trump and Students for a Democratic Society SJSU to put together the event.
Community Service Organization San José, provides resources for Chicanos and immigrants in the United States, according to its website.
The organization was one of many set up at the event, while others like Freedom Road Socialist Organization and Justice for Guillermo distributed informative resources to attendees.
Justice for Guillermo is a cause focused on stopping the deportation of San José immigrant activist Guillermo, as supporters of the demand for justice and march in San Francisco, Morgan Hill and Alameda South County, according to its Instagram page.
Megan Sweet, an event organizer with SJ People’s Pride, said the organization was born out of a desire to see more radical and militant spaces in the queer community in the South Bay.
“We’re anti-corporate sponsors and we also condemn the genocide that’s happening in Palestine,” Sweet said. “We believe in solidarity that the LGBTQ+ community holds solidarity with people all over the world. And that’s just something we didn’t really see from other local pride events.”
One of SJ People’s Pride objectives is protesting the Donald J. Trump administration for its current stance on transgender healthcare and gender-affirming services.
On January 28, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order that would prohibit health care services to transgender patients under the age of 19, according to Executive Order 14187, “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.”
In Santa Clara county, the LGBTQ Youth Space, established in 2008, offers counseling services, different opportunities and multiple resources for LGBTQ+ individuals ages 13 to 25, according to its official webpage.
To support LGBTQ+ individuals currently facing destitution or lack of resources, Supporting LGBTQ+ Adults Youth Loans had a booth set up at the event, extending the diverse set of resources available to attendees.
JJ Sutton, an administrative coordinator for Supporting LGBTQ+ Adults Youth Loans, described SLAY as an organization offering zero-interest loans in support of queer and transgender individuals and communities.
“Our goal is to provide people with financial resources and stability,” Sutton said. “We’ve been reaching out to different LGBTQ+ nonprofits in the Bay Area and other parts of California to collaborate with them and we can maybe support them in other ways.”
Besides the festival, a march was scheduled in the evening where hundreds of participants walked throughout downtown San José streets with picket signs, flags and banners.
Organizations associated with planning the festival marched, including Students for a Democratic Society, San José Against War and Freedom Road Socialist Organization San José, which marched with a sign that read “FIGHT TRUMP’S AGENDA! MAKE THE U.S. UNGOVERNABLE.”
The march concluded after hours of walking and group chanting. People from different organizations gave speeches motivating the LGBTQ+ community to continue fighting for their rights and expressed their fear and hate toward Trump’s proposed executive order.
“We don’t just celebrate, but we also recognize that queer people are constantly under threat in the United States,” Sweet said. “We won’t lay down. We won’t take Trump’s bullshit. We’re not just going to close our eyes and pretend that everything is okay.”
