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When we first looked at a small rendering of SF Travel’s float for the New Year’s Day Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, we thought we spied a small rainbow-colored patch at the back. Alas, our eyes were fooling us, as the enlarged image showed it was an orange flower. An inquiry to SF Travel officials confirmed that there was no specific LGBTQ element on the 55 foot float, “Believe in San Francisco.” While officials pointed out, “The color palette reflects the diversity and beauty of the city,” we couldn’t help but feel disappointed. The queerest city on Earth, returning to the prestigious Rose Parade for the first time in nearly 50 years, has left LGBTQs out.

It's a missed opportunity, and one we don’t think would have happened if there was an LGBTQ person in charge of the city’s official visitors’ bureau. (We miss you, Joe D’Alessandro, the gay former CEO who stepped down in 2023.)

Now, don’t get us wrong. SF Travel is very LGBTQ-friendly. It has a dedicated LGBTQ+ section on its website, sftravel.com, that promotes many LGBTQ offerings, not just the Castro neighborhood and the Pride Parade. But the sea lions at Pier 39 have a spot on the float, while a rainbow flag or the iconic Castro Theatre sign do not. Actually, they could have just put rainbow bandanas on a couple of the sea lions and called it a day.

It’s reminiscent of what happened earlier this year at the Presidio, when park officials canceled an annual Pride event that had started in 2023. And while the circumstances are different, the two are examples of what is happening in this country under President Donald Trump and his power to unleash bigotry that has spilled over into nearly every aspect of society.

In the Presidio kerfuffle, as we reported in late May, National Park Service officials said the Pride event was canceled due to Trump’s executive orders. These were “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government,” and one titled “Ending Illegal Discrimination And Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” that forbade federal agencies from engaging in diversity-based programs and initiatives, ordering them to “terminate all ‘diversity,’ ‘equity,’ ‘equitable decision-making,’ ‘equitable deployment of financial and technical assistance,’ ‘advancing equity,’ and like mandates, requirements, programs, or activities, as appropriate.”

These orders were the death knell for the LGBTQ celebration organized by the Partnership for the Presidio, which includes the park service, the Presidio Trust, and the nonprofit Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.

These examples of the parade float and Pride event, though unrelated, point to a shift underway in this country – it’s OK to omit LGBTQ references and face no consequences. This is largely due to the political polarization now washing over the U.S. People angrily spout of anti-LGBTQ and anti-trans rhetoric with no fear of repercussions because the president of the United States and members of his administration regularly do the same thing. That trickles down, consciously or not, even to mundane things like parade floats, instances in which we’re just ignored or erased. In the case of the Presidio, employees feared running afoul of the administration.

It's important to note that the Rose Parade has evolved over the years to become more welcoming of the LGBTQ community. The first parade was held in 1890 by the Valley Hunt Club. Over the ensuing years, especially in the last decade or so, there’s been a willingness on the part of parade officials to more fully embrace the community.

In January 2024, Broward County, Florida, spent $800,000 on an elaborate float touting its support for LGBTQ people, as the Advocate reported. And that was at a time when Republican Governor Ron DeSantis was waging his own war against the LGBTQ community. The Advocate reported the initiative was led by Visit Lauderdale, the city’s tourism bureau.

The Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation has had a float in the parade almost every year since 2012. In January 2025, it promoted its Healthy Housing Foundation with its “Home Sweet Home” float celebrating Charlie Chaplin on the 100th anniversary of his classic 1925 film, “The Gold Rush.”

AHF also featured the marriage of a gay same-sex couple on its float in 2014, after same-sex marriage became law in California in June 2013.

The parade also marked a first in 2019, when Rose Queen Louise Siskel made history on New Year's Day as the first Jewish and LGBTQ queen in the Tournament of Roses Parade. Siskel, who is bisexual, wrote in a Los Angeles Times op-ed at the time that the Royal Court for that year was one of the most diverse ever.

For 2026, coinciding with its theme, “The Magic in Teamwork,” the parade will feature former NBA star Ervin “Magic” Johnson as grand marshal. Johnson, of course, made headlines in 1991 when he publicly shared that he’s living with HIV. That jolted mainstream America, as people realized HIV/AIDS does not discriminate. Today, Johnson is proud of his gay son, EJ.

All of this is to say that SF Travel could have been in the forefront by promoting one of the best things about San Francisco – its queer community and the history we share with the city. Anna Marie Presutti, president and CEO of SF Travel, told us this week that the organization plans to have a float in the 2027 Rose Parade. She is thinking about promoting the arts, and indicated an LGBTQ reference could fit into that theme.

We were happy to hear that. But here’s the thing: when a city like San Francisco promotes itself to the world, one of the first things people think about is the LGBTQ community, whether they are part of it or support it as straight allies, whether in the arts or being a tourist at Pier 39. We imagine more than a few people watching the Rose Parade will be scratching their heads when they see there is no rainbow flag sprouting up from the float or a replica of the Castro Theater, which just weeks later will be reopening after a major renovation of the historic structure. Here’s hoping SF Travel will do better next time.