Volunteer at the Pacific Pride Festival
Volunteers Needed for the 2023 Pacific Pride Festival!
The Pacific Pride Festival, August 26th from 11am – 7pm, could not be possible without the help of countless volunteers who selflessly devote their time. We have several volunteer opportunities to meet your interests and availability including support with general set up, park monitoring, stage management, greeting festival attendees, clean up, and much more!
By volunteering at this special Pride at the Beach event, you are supporting Pacific Pride Foundation’s commitment to ensuring a vibrant, thriving and visible LGBTQ+ community for all!
PPF Board Announcement: Welcome Hangping, Kristy, and Dean!
Pacific Pride Foundation (PPF) today announced its three newest board members who will support PPF’s work to ensure a vibrant and visible LGBTQ+ community here in Santa Barbara County.
“We’re beyond excited to introduce three new board members who will bring a diverse set of insight and experience to our Board of Directors,” said PPF Executive Director Kristin Flickinger. “These members embody a period of growth for the PPF board, bringing in new and different voices from the LGBTQ+ community, as well as specific skill sets in Advocacy, Governance and more.”
Beginning their three-year terms in 2023, the new board members are:
- Hangping Xu (he/him), Professor of Chinese and Comparative Literature at UCSB
- Kristy Thomsen (she/her), Associate Director of Mission Assurance at Raytheon Vision Systems in Goleta, CA
- Dean Carter (he/him), Chief People and Purpose Officer at Guild
Sunset at the Canary
Save the date for our special Pride Week Sunset @ the Canary! Join us on Friday August 25, from 6pm – 8pm at the Kimpton Canary. DJ Darla Bea will be bringing us all of our favorite beats. Last year we got so packed we had to turn people away so get there early!
When: Friday, August 25, 6pm-8pm
Where: Kimpton Canary Rooftop
Cost: Free!
Can’t make it? The final Sunset at the Canary for the season will take on September 20th.
Senate Passes Respect for Marriage Act
Today is a historic day for the LGBTQ+ community as the Senate passed the Respect for Marriage Act with bipartisan support. The bill will return to the U.S. House for final passage, and then to President Joe Biden, who has stated he will sign the bill into law.
“Today’s passage of the Respect for Marriage act in the Senate is an important step on the historic path to protection for same-sex couples. This bipartisan achievement is the work of many LGBTQ+ organizations, advocates, and Members of Congress, who have been dedicated to ensuring its passage at this challenging time.
“Once signed into law, in the coming weeks, this legislation will secure the rights and protections of marriage to LGBTQ+ people and their families. Equally importantly, it will serve as a message to our community that love is love and that we have the right to marry the person we love, regardless of gender.”
-Pacific Pride Foundation Executive Director, Kristin Flickinger
Get your tickets for Royal Bocce!
On behalf of Pacific Pride Foundation and Rosewood Miramar Beach, we welcome you to join us for our upcoming Royal Bocce Tournament on August 8 from 5PM-7PM. Enjoy a regal evening on the bocce courts for a friendly competition and good company while supporting PPF at this one of a kind fundraiser. Watch eight (8) teams play to win a one-night stay at Rosewood Miramar Beach – including a team of your favorite Santa Barbara Queens!
Spectator tickets are $150 per guest and include light hors d’oeuvres, cash bar, and a bocce tournament to remember. Be sure to dress in your Royal Bocce best!
To sponsor a team and play in the tournament, contact Tyson.
Pacific Pride Foundation Condemns Supreme Court Rulings
In response to the Supreme Court’s rulings on affirmative action and LGBTQ+ rights and religious freedoms on July 29th and 30th, 2023, Pacific Pride Foundation’s Executive Director, Kristin Flickinger issued the following statement:
Santa Barbara, CA – Today’s Supreme Court decision in 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis retreats on decades of protections for the LGBTQ+ community. By allowing a website designer to refuse to create websites celebrating same-sex weddings, the court has eroded public accommodations laws requiring retailers to provide goods and services to all people regardless of status, including sexual orientation, gender, race, and ability. As Justice Sotomayor stated in her dissenting opinion:
“By issuing this new license to discriminate in a case brought by a company that seeks to deny same-sex couples the full and equal enjoyment of its services, the immediate, symbolic effect of the decision is to mark gays and lesbians for second-class status.”
While the decision undermines the civil rights laws that protect all of us from discrimination in our daily lives, it does not remove all anti-discrimination protections, including protections against discrimination in housing, employment or banking, which remain enshrined in federal law. The case relies heavily on the specific facts of the case, making it unclear to what extent today’s ruling will have broader impact.
Equally disturbing is the series of Supreme Court decisions issued in recent years that make our country less safe for LGBTQ+ people, women, and people of color, including yesterday’s decision striking down affirmative action in college admissions. Pacific Pride Foundation joins hundreds of local, state and national social justice organizations in condemning the upending of decades of precedent that allowed America’s colleges and universities to expand educational opportunities for all.
While our communities are under attack from many directions, we know that the majority of people in this country support our rights. Now more than ever, community organizations like Pacific Pride Foundation need to look to each other, stand together, and remain firm in our commitment to advance racial equity and civil rights for all. Pacific Pride Foundation remains committed to ensuring a vibrant, thriving, and visible LGBTQ+ community, and to standing with our partners as we continue our work in the face of these latest threats.
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