“It’s about seeing each other and showing up for each other and carrying each other, when we’re weary or faltering or losing faith. That’s how you build something that endures.”
—Michelle Obama, from her “Hope Is All We Have” speech at the Obama Center grand opening ceremony, June 18, 2026
The Pride 2026 cover of the San Francisco Bay Times reflects just some of the many individuals who help build and strengthen the Bay Area’s LGBTQ+ community. Still more merit inclusion, given that nearly half a million openly LGBTQ+ people live in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, according to the Horizons Foundation.
Those featured on the cover include Mark Abramson, Dr. Marcy Adelman, Tita Aida, Andrea Aiello, Tom Ammiano, Sophia Andary, Billie Joe Armstrong, Race Bannon, Selisse Berry, Brian Boitano, Aaron Boot-Haury, Nate Bourg, Kate Brown, Dr. Hossein Carney, Patrick Carney, Jen Chan, Margaret Cho, Peaches Christ, Cecilia Chung, Lenore Chinn, Tim Cook, Dominique Crenn, Juan Davila, Angela Davis, Roger Doughty, D’Arcy Drollinger, Bevan Dufty, Angel Fabian, Tisha Floratos, Kin Folkz, Suzanne Ford, Stuart Gaffney, Moisés Garcia, Bob Goldfarb, Marga Gomez, Jewelle Gomez, Roma Guy, Alex U. Inn, DJ Christie James, Janetta Johnson, Joe Hawkins, Robert Holgate, Crystal Jang, Cleve Jones, Rebecca Kaplan, Leslie Katz, Kate Kendell, David Landis, Mark Leno, Tom LeNoble, Marsha Levine, John Lewis, Janice Li, Madeleine Lim, Evan Low, Rachel Maddow, Honey Mahogany, Rafael Mandelman, Kippy Marks, Liam Mayclem, Gary McCoy, Michelle Meow, Paul Miller, Jeff Myers, Juanita MORE!, Michael Nguyen, David Perry, Donna Personna, Nguyen Pham, Hank Plante, Rebecca Prozan, Alex Randolph, Mark Rhoades, Morey Riordan, DJ Rockaway, Sister Roma, Imani Rupert-Gordon, Aria Sa’id, Donna Sachet, Greg Sarris, Amy Schneider, Dr. Tim Seelig, Devlin Shand, Per Sia, Megan Smith, Janie Spahr, Sparks, Jake Stensberg, BeBe Sweetbriar, Susan Stryker, Amy Sueyoshi, Kara Swisher, DJ Olga T, Olga Talamante, Danielle Thoe, Dr. Tyler TerMeer, Linda Tillery, Jennifer Valles, Sister Dana Van Iquity, Gary Virginia, Scott Wiener, Lisa Williams, Manny Yekutiel, Sara Yergovich, and Judy Young.
This issue of the Bay Times, as for all other issues, includes countless more such accomplished individuals, along with allies who also enrich life here in the Bay Area. The Bay Times is “about seeing each other” and is “grounded in our stories,” in the way that former First Lady Michelle Obama meant this month as she advised how to “build something that endures.”
The San Francisco Bay Times is an official San Francisco Legacy Business that, in September 2026, will receive the Legacy Award from the NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists. This award recognizes, at a national level, media outlets that have “exhibited innovative, high-quality, and sustained news coverage of the LGBTQ+ community over an extended period of time.” The Bay Times later this year will also officially be added to the LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District. More information about both of these honors, including related events, will be detailed in future issues.
For now, as many of us celebrate Pride and the first weeks of Summer 2026, we also hold onto hope during what for many in the LGBTQ+ community and beyond is a very challenging and disheartening time in this country. Michelle Obama said, “[H]ope is the essential spark that lights the fire of change. But hope is a choice. Whether or not we use our voices to speak up is a choice. Voting is a choice. Being a decent human being is a choice. Believing that we still hold the power to build a country that reflects us all is a choice.”
Coming out and publicly acknowledging Pride are also almost always very personal choices. Thinking again of Michelle Obama’s words, the leaders of San Francisco Pride—like the stewards of the Obama legacy—have “protected and proclaimed the hope that beats within the heart” of the LGBTQ+ community. Thank you to them and to all the allies and LGBTQ+ individuals who have made the often-difficult choice to live and love authentically with pride; and courage and support to those in the community who feel isolated, alone, and afraid. The always free and fully accessible Bay Times and San Francisco Pride Parade and Festival remain here for you, meeting you where you are and striving to nurture hope.
Celebrating Pride 2026
Published on June 25, 2026
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