Some of the more well-known contingents are: During the 1990s it was common to see anti-gay protestors in the spectator area along the parade route, holding large signs condemning homosexuality, often with biblical passages.

On the Sunday of the parade, an area of the festival called Leather Alley features fetish and BDSM oriented booths and demonstrations.

[10][12] The festival is run by a non-profit organization, the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration Committee.

[14][15] The event is funded by a combination of community fundraising both by the pride committee and on their behalf, corporate sponsorships, San Francisco city grants, and donations collected from the participants at the festival.

Of particular note are: The first events resembling the modern San Francisco Pride parade and celebration were held on the last weekend of June 1970: Organized by the San Francisco Gay Liberation Front, a "Gay Liberation March" saw 20 to 30 people walk from Aquatic Park to Civic Center on Polk Street on Saturday, June 27.

The original rainbow flags flew at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade (as it was called then) on June 25, 1978.

[19][20] In 1986 Autumn Courtney was elected co-chair of San Francisco's Lesbian Gay Freedom Day Pride Parade Committee; she was the first openly bisexual person to hold this sort of position in the United States.

[29][30][31] In 2016, Black Lives Matter and the TGI Justice Project withdrew from the parade in protest of increased police presence at the event.

[14][15] In 2022, the parade's concluding event at Civic Center was cut short by the organizers after a person was spraying mace near the stage, causing a panic, followed by multiple street brawls.

Two days later, Pride's board president vetoed the election, declaring it "an error" due to a "systemic failure that now has become apparent and will be rectified.

The board also reported that the San Francisco Human Rights Commission had declined to investigate the discrimination claims filed against SF Pride.