straight, sometimes marching together with their LGBT relatives. Many carry signs indicating where their PFLAG chapter comes from. This contingent is notable for the emotion it generates along the route. Politicians frequently participate in the parade, as a way of making themselves visible to LGBT prospective voters. LGBT-affirming religious groups of many denominations contribute several dozen contingents. Nonprofit community groups and LGBT-oriented local businesses contribute more than half of the contingents. It is common for them to decorate a flatbed truck or float, along with loud dance music, or create a colorful contingent that carries a visual message out to the bystanders. The leather contingent consists of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and pansexual leather and BDSM groups. Many San Francisco companies have a contingent, sometimes chaptered by LGBT employees of the company, sometimes chaptered by the company as a community outreach or public relations effort to show support of LGBT causes. During the 1990s it was common to see anti-gay protestors in the spectator area along the parade route, holding large signs condemning homosexuality, often with biblical passages. In the 2000s such protestors have become less common. Hundreds of thousands of spectators line the parade route along Market Street. Some arrive hours in advance to claim a prime spot on the curb with a clear view of the street. Others climb onto bus shelters, the walls of subway station stairs, or scaffolding on buildings to get a clear view. As the parade ends, the spectators are able to pass through the barriers and march down Market street behind the parade. The end of the parade route is near the Festival location at the Civic Center. Festival A two-day (Saturday and Sunday) festival has grown up around the Sunday morning parade. It is a collection of booths, dance stages, and vendors around the Civic Center area near San Francisco City Hall. On the Sunday of the parade, an area of the festival called Leather Alley features fetish and BDSM oriented booths and demonstrations. The festival is traditionally held in the last full weekend in June. This commemorates the Stonewall riots. The independently organized Trans March is held on the Friday before the parade while the Dyke March and Trans March events are held on the Friday and Saturday nights preceding the march and rally in The Castro. Administration The festival is run by a non-profit organization, the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay,