The Amor Sin Fronteras Committee at their fundraiser for a Latin Pride party in Dolores Park, coming on Sept. 19. There was a drag show, fine Mexican food, DJ music and a raffle. Photo by Rink.

A well coordinated benefit at the Women’s Building drew party-goers to fine drag entertainment, raffle prizes, DJ music, Mexican food treats, and beer and soda on Aug. 29. The event was staged by the Amor Sin Fronteras Committee to raise funds for the San Francisco Latin Pride event in Dolores Park on Sept. 19. Women and men have worked happily together to produce three previous successful Latin Pride events in the park; picturres of past events can be seen online by looking up Amor Sin Fronteras. The views show attractive people enjoying themselves at booths and on stages, eating and dancing and performing. Most of the participants are LGBT Latinas and Latinos, and a large number of diverse supporters and friends have joined them year after year. The only photographs that are missing was when a Mexican Folkloric group of 2 opposite sex couples arrived, and after checking out the party guests, paired up as same sex couples to dazzle the audience as they danced faster and faster and closer and closer. California is returning to the time before some Anglo Americans seized San Francisco in 1846 to a stronger Mexican and Latin American influence with developing population changes, so it is appropriate that LGBT Latinas and Latinos become more visible and empowered, and celebrate their growing presence. 

The Women’s Building event featured well-chosen Mexican and U.S. Top 40 music by DJ Krazy, who has helped out at other parties that committee co-chair Ramon Ramirez has presented in San Francisco and San Jose. Ramirez joined Chichi Lamame Wilibaldo Guerrero and Sassy Ernesto to place the tempting chicharron en salsa verde and pollo en tomate on the buffet table with the beer and soda, and the group’s eye-catching banner that invokes love was attached to the wall behind the stage. Raffle prizes included a large Michael Kors designer bag, hot pink dangerously high heels and a slinky dress, a sumptuous collection of Ghirardelli chocolates, and practical house cleaning and massage services. 

The message of the entertainers list was it was not to be an amateur show. Some of the stars of the extravaganza are veterans of Tweaker.org anti-meth campaign events at Magnet and in the Mission, and at Garza’s benefit shows at Café Flore. The professional talent included Mama Dora, la Malinshe, Tia Dolce Garcia, Latin rapper Gabriela, and the irrepressible Garza, who is admired for his tireless safer sex education work and charity show coordination.

The San Francisco Health Department’s safer sex kit of condoms and lubricant was on the raffle ticket table in case someone got lucky, and there were tarot readings that hopefully did not end up like Orson Welles’ in the film Touch of Evil when a carefully disguised Marlene Dietrich gave him the extremely bad news. 

The theme of the Dolores Park event is “Immigration, community, family” which lines up well with the current pro-immigrant feeling in San Francisco, the drawing together of LGBT’s on issues such as marriage equality, and the growing numbers of LGBT Latinas and Latinos with children.