T-Love has been a staple of the San Diego Pride Parade for years. (Photo by Nathan Rupert, July 2014)

There’s nothing like the Pride Parade. Up to 300,000 spectators in San Diego’s largest civic event of the year sporting delightful, bright attire. Three hundred contingents made up of 10,0000 marchers will parade through Hillcrest to Balboa Park this year, each trying to out fabulous the other floats (and based on personal experience, the competition to recruit marchers will be fierce).

For the veterans to the uninitiated, the experience promises to be memorable. Having gone several times now, I’ve developed my own favorites among the contingents. And not just the most impressive float or jaw-dropping dance troupe, I’ve found individual people to watch out for who embody the energy of Pride. Through blazing heat and pouring rain, these performers bring their all for the crowd, shining with joy, talent and verve.

Big Booty Judy

Dykes on Bikes always provide a roaring start to the parade. Among the leather-clad bikers, Tanya Trujillo stands out: she’s the one riding a unicorn. Trujillo started making Big Booty Judy in 2015 to impress a lover. Since then, the unicorn’s wide derrière has been a fixture of the opening contingent. Even in 2020 when there was not an official Pride Parade, Dykes on Bikes with frontrunner Judy rode through Hillcrest.

“The smiles and pure excitement are what keep me going every year,” Trujillo said.

Each year, Trujillo improves the sculpture attached to her motorcycle just a bit. From the glittery rainbow striped horn to the extra long eyelashes, Judy is lovingly crafted. The white unicorn with a rainbow mane and tail started wearing checkered black and white tights in 2023. It covers up a bejeweled tramp stamp (A lot of people have tattoo regrets, unicorns included). Her hooves are rainbow now too.

Riding Big Booty Judy is also a popular photo spot during Pride weekend. She even has her own Instagram page where Trujillo teased more changes for this year’s parade.

T-Love on Dr. Bronner’s

Dr. Bronner’s has a unique approach to advertising. You won’t see commercials or adverts for their sustainable soap and other products, but you can catch choreographer Terry Love Lenley, nicknamed T-Love, performing his heart out at events around the world. “We are their commercials,” Lenley said. “Whenever they need to give a gift to the community, they send us.”

Lenley is from San Diego and received a dance scholarship here that launched his career. “I can go and travel around the world dancing wherever, but I always come back here,” he said. “I come home; it’s very special to me.”

Lenley is a former Chippendale dancer who now puts his considerable talents towards spreading Dr. Bronner’s message of love for all. In west coast parades, Lenley performs acrobatic feats atop a converted fire truck with a platform built onto the ladder accompanied by DJ RhythMx.

At the Pride Parade, “People are just happy,” Lenley said. “I want to give that back to them.”

The safety harness covers more skin than his costume. His braids are an extension of his dance moves, whipping around him as he spins for the crowd (something that takes careful neck stretches beforehand and leaves him limping after it’s over). Some of the young performers flexing oiled muscles and giving half-hearted booty shakes should take notes from this 58-year-old performer.

After more than a decade of performing with Dr. Bronner’s, Lenley’s favorite memory is from the hurricane-impacted parade of 2015.

“It rained, and it rained heavy, and yet the parade still continued. My heart was just open. It was just blown open… People can just go in and find some shelter. But no, they were right there,” he recalled. “The love was really high that day.”

Ahead of this year’s performance, Lenley told people to look for his colorful wardrobe designed by his “brilliant” friend Tendar.

Renee Robertson’s exuberance

Environmental Services is far from the most glamorous city department, but you wouldn’t know that from watching former ESD director Renee Robertson. Militarized police vehicles and gigantic school buses have nothing on the way Robertson rocked a garbage truck. Hanging on to the back of the rainbow drenched truck, she waved at the crowd with palpable enthusiasm.

She was abashed to learn her unmatched excitement stood out amid the dozens of contingents. “Joyous outward celebration with a bunch of strangers is not my normal go to,” Robertson, who typically avoids crowds, said.

Robertson is a long-time spectator turned Pride Parade participant in 2022. As a semi-closeted Point Loma Nazarene student in the early aughts, her first time at a Pride Parade made her realize how big the LGBTQ+ community truly is. Decades later, riding the truck revealed the scale and diversity of her home city. Robertson also became a mother during the pandemic and cares deeply about public service at the city. Watching families cheer on the trash collector at the Pride Parade connected all parts of her life at once.

“I don’t think there’s many places on Earth where you can go and feel that much safety, excitement, openness and celebration all at the same time,” Robertson reflected.

Robertson has since switched departments to become Deputy Director of Homeless Strategies and Solutions Department which does not have a contingent. ESD isn’t participating this year either and it’s no wonder. Without your boss swinging wildly from the back of a garbage truck, what’s the point?

Whether you will spot Robertson in a different city contingent this year depends on her son. If Jack is old enough to enjoy being a spectator, they will be cheering from the sidelines and happy to talk with any fellow PLNU alums.

San Diego Gay Bird

This last performer I have never seen in person. The San Diego Gay Bird was a staple of Pride Parades through the ‘80s and early ‘90s. Photos document her strutting with pink and purple feathers galore in these celebrations, but at some point, the Gay Bird stopped attending.

San Diego borrows so many traditions from other places. Pride commemorates the Stonewall riots which took place in New York City. There is no anniversary march for the 1971 SDPD protest or 1974 May Company pickets that ignited the local LGBTQ+ movement. Trujillo along with other Dykes on Bikes are at the front of the parade because of a tradition began in San Francisco. This isn’t a bad thing, but San Diego should hold on to its own history and traditions as well. Why not start with bringing back the San Diego Gay Bird?

Like a phoenix from the ashes, the gay bird must fly again. There’s an entire contingent of furries, surely one of them can recreate this icon. I hope like Robertson, this costumed individual will return to light up San Diego’s biggest annual celebration.