San Francisco Giants’ AIDS Fundraiser Game, Gay Pride Parade Scheduled for Same Day

The San Francisco Giants have proposed rescheduling their annual AIDS fundraiser baseball game to June 29, the same day as San Francisco's annual Gay Pride parade, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The Giants' "Until There's a Cure Day," when $1 from every ticket sold is donated to groups that promote HIV/AIDS awareness or provide services to people with HIV/AIDS, has been held annually since 1994 and was the first AIDS-related community outreach event sponsored by a professional sports team. Although the game is usually held in August and attracts many gay fans, the Giants proposed changing the date of this year's event in order to "drum up publicity" for the game's 10th anniversary. However, gay community leaders have said that the conflict between the game and the parade would "anger gay Giants fans and force AIDS organizations that participate in the game's red-ribbon ceremony to make a choice between the parade and the game," according to the Chronicle. Shana Daum, director of community relations for the Giants, said that Giants officials initially had not considered the parade as a possible conflict and that they have already met again to consider choosing a different date for the game. "It is very likely that (the date conflict) is not going to occur because we want to do what's right for the communities that we're trying to reach out to," Daum said, adding that the game may be rescheduled for Aug. 10, the same weekend the event was held last year. Jeff Cleary, executive director of the Until There's a Cure Foundation, said he "didn't see a conflict" with the two events, adding that he hoped many people would attend both events (Delgado, San Francisco Chronicle, 1/24).