LGBTs take over downtown Tijuana for 2 days

The border city of Tijuana, Mexico, saw its 15th gay pride parade June 19 and, for the first time, the march was accompanied by a festival, which ran for two days on three intersecting streets in the center of downtown.

Several hundred people joined the parade down Avenida Revolución, the main drag of the city center that once was a raucous, pulsing tourist and nightlife district.

The avenue has fallen on hard times from a triple whammy that curtailed tourist crossings from the U.S. First, increased border security after 9/11 created hours-long checkpoint lines to get back to the U.S. Then the U.S. started requiring that Americans returning from Mexican border zones have a passport, which most Americans don’t have. Additionally, Tijuana was hit with a violent crime wave in 2008. Although the security situation has improved since last year, the impression persists in Southern California that it’s not safe to cross the border.

As a result, LGBT residents of Baja California celebrated Pride on their own for the second year in a row, with minimal camaraderie from the other side of the fence. And celebrate they did.

The parade was around 10 times bigger than the first one 15 years ago, and this year’s first-ever festival saw LGBT Tijuanans claim the streets of the downtown core for 24 hours.

The free party, which ran from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday, spanned three large blocks, stretching south, east and southwest from the giant Tijuana arch.

Three stages offered live music and artistic performances. Booths sold art, food and tchotchkes, and provided organizational and HIV information.

Co-sponsors of the festivities included the city and state governments, the tourism committee, a merchants’ association and a brewery.

By Rex Wockner