First J Pride fest provides space for queer Jewish people after rift with SD Pride

With San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria behind her Lawrence Family JCC CEO Betzy Lynch speaks from the DJ booth at the first annual JPride Festival in La Jolla Saturday Photo by James Miller Times of San Diego About people demonstrated up with brio for the first J Pride Festival held Saturday at Mandell Weiss Eastgate Park According to Lawrence Family Jewish Public Center CEO Betzy Lynch J Pride is a place where attendees who are members of the Jewish and queer communities can be wholly themselves No one should be requested to bifurcate their identity in order to feel safe somewhere Lynch explained According to Lynch even in a historically inclusive space like San Diego Pride and in the world generally things are changing for the Jewish group It s our responsibility to help people reimagine what it is to be a shared society Lynch mentioned Mayor Todd Gloria joined Toni Atkins Tasha Boerner Chris Ward and other political dignitaries on the DJ stage midway through the festival Ward a member of the state Assembly was perhaps the only high-profile elected official who appeared at both J Pride and the San Diego Pride Parade where attendance appeared as robust as ever on Saturday Various like Gloria pulled out of San Diego Pride events over the choice of the singer Kehlani as a headliner for this year s San Diego Pride Festival The fest at Balboa Park follows the morning Pride Parade They turned to J Pride once the alternative event was released Gloria stated that for him as the mayor of San Diego it s critical that people understand they are welcome here For a great number of in this audience there are particular of you that felt like there were messages in the last few days that say quite the opposite he stated I want to say here clearly and very directly we will not be America s Finest City without our Jewish group and without our LGBT locality The crowd as San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria spoke at the first JPride Festival in La Jolla Saturday Photo by James Miller Times of San Diego Gloria thanked attendees Thank you for being a bulwark against hate and discrimination he revealed A media representative for the Lawrence Family JCC explained the organization s top priority at the event was safety private protection hired by the JCC cooperated with San Diego police who cased the park with bomb sniffing dogs ahead of time Mandell Weiss Eastgate Park the Lawrence Family JCC and a San Diego Police Department division share a city block The first JPride Festival in La Jolla Saturday Photo by James Miller Times of San Diego J Pride did not publicly announce the location of the event and only shared it with attendees after they RSVP d People were allowed to bring water bottles and small clear bags into the event and were subject to waves of metal-detecting wands upon entry Amidst booths staffed by restaurants and local Jewish organizations Jamul Casino gave out bucket hats and backpacks next to a rainbow display glittering in the sun The casino s Director of Advertising Katheirne Hoppe stated J Pride felt like a party and that the casino craved a way to help the queer society after pulling out of the larger Pride Parade due to antisemetism concerns connected to Kehlani We knew this was going on and we had the money allocated for the district so we sought to give it to someone where it would make a difference Hoppe stated Jamul Casino s booth at the first annual JPride Festival in La Jolla Saturday Photo by James Miller Times of San Diego Janice Weinstein a lesbian and a member of Chavurat Shir Ha-Yam an egalitarian Jewish renewal society in San Diego noted it was powerful to feel welcomed by the larger Jewish area at J Pride According to Weinstein San Diego Pride did not live up to their values by embracing Kehlani Basically this year they re saying all are welcome here if you want to align yourself with specific very vicious rhetoric about Israel and the Jewish people Weinstein mentioned Kehlani has made comments perceived by particular as antisemetic while advocating for Palestinians In one affair the performer ended a livestream by saying It s f Israel its f Zionism and it s also f k a lot of y all too Rabbi Gabi Arad of the Jewish Collaborative of San Diego in Carlsbad set up karaoke at the organization s booth at J Pride According to Arad kids in the Jewish Collaborative yearned karaoke to be their booth s attraction For them they want to sing out they re very into musical theater and you know just expressing themselves she reported For Arad J Pride is for the kids particularly queer youth We yearned to show them that we love them and if they don t feel safe or accepted in other spaces we are going to provide that space for them Arad stated And that s the vibe I m feeling here in current times