Sisters, Officials Mull Pink Saturday Changes -- or Cancellation

City officials and organizers of San Francisco's annual Pink Saturday celebration, which brings thousands of people to the streets of the Castro the night before the LGBT Pride parade, are talking about changes to the event after years of violent incidents.

This year, one of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the group of drag nuns that puts on the street party, was attacked in an apparent hate crime. Other incidents also were reported.

So far, much of the focus is on starting and ending the event earlier, but one Sister said shutting down the event is one of the considerations.

Sister Selma Soul has been in charge of the evening's plans for the last three years and is stepping down since she's fulfilled her commitment. Soul said canceling the party is "a possibility if we feel like we can't manage it."

A community meeting to discuss Pink Saturday is tentatively set for September 10 at 6 p.m. at the Eureka Valley Recreation Center, 100 Collingwood Street. The Sisters are convening the meeting along with Supervisor Scott Wiener, whose District 8 includes the Castro. The San Francisco Police Department is expected to be represented at the gathering.

Concerns about safety have been especially strong since Stephen Powell, 19, was shot to death around the time the party ended in 2010.

"We're definitely considering" calling off the party next year, Soul said. She said the festival would happen in "a modified form next year," but "that's only if things come together with the city and with leadership within the order."

Soul said, "The Sisters are not making any decisions" until after the September meeting. She said the Sisters would most likely vote at their general membership meeting in October on whether to have Pink Saturday next year.

This year's problems were "typical" and included violence, "overindulgence of alcohol," and "a lot of folks who aren't necessarily there to celebrate Pride," Soul said.

Soul, whose real name is James Bazydola, said many problems seem to happen later in the evening, and that the Sisters are thinking about starting the party earlier and ending it at 8 p.m.

"That's probably the biggest change that we're considering," Soul said. "We would love to work with a smaller footprint" and they're also looking for increased police coverage, Soul added.

Soul said she didn't know whether violence has "escalated," but "half the time we feel like we're babysitting folks" instead of creating a space for celebration.

Wiener said that over the past few years, the party has tended to shift from a "community-focused" celebration to "more and more people who appear to be coming into the neighborhood not to celebrate Pride but to get drunk and to cause problems." He said he'd be "open to supporting" the idea of ending the event earlier.

The supervisor recently met with the Sisters and police to talk about Pink Saturday, and said, "The Sisters deserve enormous credit for taking this event on year after year. It's a huge amount of work for them." He said he's "hopeful" the group will manage the event again.

Asked whether he'd support canceling the party, which raises thousands of dollars for charities every year, Wiener said, "I'm not prepared to go there. Pink Saturday has been such a terrific annual event for the community."

He said if the Sisters decide not to run the festival again, having the city take over would be "one option," but he didn't want to speculate.

Police Captain Dan Perea, who oversees Mission Station, which includes the Castro, was event commander for Pink Saturday and several other facets of Pride weekend this year.

In response to emailed questions, Perea said police responded to "several fights" and "the biggest problem was created by individuals who came to the event who were not part of the community" and "came to create trouble, engage in crimes of opportunity, and partake in general lawlessness."

Perea said the decision on whether to have Pink Saturday "belongs to the community who celebrate Pride," the Sisters, "and the residents of the area where the event is held. My personal opinion is the decision should not be made by outsiders and troublemakers who disrupt the celebration of Pride for those who gather to celebrate."

For years, Castro streets had been shut down for Halloween, October 31, but the city canceled the annual party in 2007 after years of violence, including shootings.

"We want to get Pink Saturday under control and make sure it does not become another Halloween," said Wiener, but the pre-Pride party "is not in the same category as what Halloween became by the end."

Perea said the hate crime against Sister Maryin A Mann, 43, the drag nun who, along with his husband, was attacked at this year's party is being investigated by the department's Special Investigations Division.