San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band

The San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band is a community concert, marching and pep band based in San Francisco that promotes visibility and musical education for the Bay Area's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities. Although a majority of its members are LGBT, many are heterosexual allies and join to support the LGBT community and to partake in a high-quality community concert, marching and pep band performances. The SF Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band presents programs that help to build understanding between LGBT and other communities through music performance.

The concert band's current artistic director is Pete Nowlen; its current artistic director of marching and pep bands is Michael J. Wong. Past artistic directors include Jadine Louie (1996-2006; 2009-2012), Dr. Roberto-Juan Gonzalez (2007-2008), Nancy Corporon (1990-1996), Wayne Love (1988; 1989-1990), Jeff Foote (1988-1989), Jay Kast (1986-1988), Lesesne Van Antwerp (1982-1985), Tom Smith (1982), and Jon Sims (1978-1982).

History
The band was founded by Jon Reed Sims in 1978 as the 'San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Marching Band and Twirling Corp'. Sims, born in Smith Center, Kansas, was a musician and performer who formed the band in response to Anita Bryant's anti-gay campaign in the late 1970s. Upon its founding, it became the first openly-gay musical group in the world. In successive years, Sims created the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco, Lambda Pro Musica orchestra (now defunct), and encouraged the formation of the Big Apple Corps GLBT band in New York by Nancy Corporon and The Great American Yankee Freedom Band of Los Angeles by Wayne Love.

Venues
The band has performed in many parades and venues, both LGBT and non-LGBT since its inception. Included in this roster are the San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade, Senior's Connection on New Years Day, LGBT pride parades all over California and the United States, San Francisco St. Patrick's Day Parade, Redwood City 4 July Parade, Clarendon Elementary School's Gay Awareness Day, AIDS Walk San Francisco, and many more.

Legal status
As a legal 501(c)3 non-profit, the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band is dedicated to providing music and entertainment for any non-profit organization that requests their services and does not conflict with the mission of the band.

Awards
On its 20th anniversary year, the band was first declared "The Official Band of San Francisco" by Supervisor Tom Ammiano, on behalf of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The Board of Supervisors repeated the honor a second time in May of 2003 at the band's 25th anniversary concert, The Beat Goes On.

In December of 2018, San Francisco Mayor London Breed signed into law an ordinance declaring the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band the ‘Official Band of the City and County of San Francisco’ which coincided with the band’s 40th anniversary year.

Dance-Along Nutcracker®
The band's most renowned annual performance is the Dance-Along Nutcracker, usually held the first weekend in December at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Organized around a theme, the audience is encouraged to dance - wearing rented tutus - during movements of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. In between, professional entertainers such as Carolyn Carvajal, Trauma Flintstone and Cheer San Francisco perform for the audience. The event is family-friendly and has been called "the plum of the holiday season." The Dance-Along Nutcracker has been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle, Wall Street Journal and on NBC and HGTV.