eight stripes, but was later simplified to the current six stripes. A six-stripe Rainbow Flag flies over Harvey Milk Plaza in the Castro, arguably the best known LGBT village in the world. On August 3, 1997, Teddy Witherington (who previously organized the London LGBT Pride Event 1991–1997, including the first EuroPride Festival in 1992) was hired as the organization's first executive director. During his tenure, the celebration evolved into a multi-cultural festival and attracted support from high-profile celebrities and sponsors, including the B52s as Main Stage headliners in 2001 and Sir Ian McKellen as Grand Marshal in 2002. Witherington formally stepped down on January 6, 2006, and was succeeded by Lindsey Jones who had joined the staff in 2004. Jones served as executive director through the 2009 event. In October 2009, LGBT activist Amy Andre was appointed as executive director of the San Francisco Pride Celebration Committee, making her San Francisco Pride's first openly bisexual woman of color executive director. Also in 2009, Asexual Visibility and Education Network members participated in the first asexual entry into an American pride parade when they walked in the San Francisco Pride Parade. They have entered subsequent parades since. Andre resigned a year later in October 2010 and was succeeded by former deputy executive director, Brendan Behan. Behan served as Executive Director April 2011 through December 2012 when Earl Plante was hired as CEO. Plante resigned September 6, 2013. George Ridgely was hired to the position of Executive Director January 7, 2014 and served in that position until July 11, 2019. In May 2015, Kent Anderson was hired as deputy executive director (resigned March 2017). In 2016, Black Lives Matter and the TGI Justice Project withdrew from the parade in protest of increased police presence at the event. In 2019, activists blocked the Pride parade route for almost an hour, in protest of police and corporate presence at the event. In January 2020, Fred Lopez was named as the new executive director, having served in that position in an interim role since July 2019. Carolyn Wysinger serves as President of the board of directors. The 2020 and 2021 pride events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, Executive Director Fred Lopez stepped down, and Suzanne Ford, previously the Board Treasurer, became Interim Executive Director. In 2022, the parade's concluding event at Civic Center was cut short by the organizers after a person