He would end up going to the parade for another 30 years, until he and his husband stopped going due to ailing backs and legs-all the standing and walking became too much, he said.įlash-forward about a decade later to 2018, when Lawrence was invited to ride in Blue Shield’s San Diego Pride float. Lawrence’s courage and spirit carried on. We went down to the festival, had a good time and partied, being proud to be gay.” You didn’t want to call them names, so we didn’t. “We just walked down past them and ignored them. Mark and the others joined hands and walked the route, looking straight ahead.
People hurled insults and threw things at the group. There were more protestors than participants, Lawrence remembers.