2018 San Francisco Pride: Mamma Mia! Yes We Went Again!

June 26, 2018

“The 2018 San Francisco Pride Parade was a mile of smiles. I heard that on the news and I thought it was the best way to describe last Sunday’s parade,” said Kelley Cayton, Director of Business Assurance at Comcast and Executive Sponsor of Comcast California’s OUT Employee Resource Group.

In the second consecutive year, around 300 employees from Comcast NBCUniversal and its sister companies gathered at the corner of Spear and Mission Streets to march last Sunday in the 48th edition of the San Francisco Pride Parade.

“Last year was our trial run and we had a very good initial and organic effort. Our LGBTQ employee resource group had just launched and we were just starting,” said Cayton. “This year we had a bigger plan, a solid year of preparation under our belt and a lot of support from our leadership, especially our division sponsor and Regional Vice President for the California Region, John Gauder.

Also, Comcast NBCUniversal teamed up with Universal Pictures to promote its new movie Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again! that premiers nationally on July 20th.

“The float was a big game changer,” said Cayton. “This year’s theme for San Francisco Pride was ‘Generations of Strength’ and Mamma Mia was perfect for it because everyone knows the movie and the songs and everyone, children and adults, were dancing and singing along. It was an amazing intergenerational experience!”

Maude Lawler, Comcast Spotlight; Anna Kemmer, Comcast Spotlight; and Dillion Nguyen Comcast Cable (Left to Right)

“If you were to tell me four years ago when I arrived to San Francisco from Louisiana that I was going to ride the SF Pride Parade on a Mamma Mia! float and that I would be working for a Fortune 500 company that supports and celebrates who I am as part of the LGBTQ community I would not believe you,” said Dillion Nguyen Competitive Specialist for Comcast and an OUT ERG board member.

For Dillion, the best part of the parade was seeing the crowd. “It made me think that everyone has a story and everyone wants to be heard, celebrated and in an environment where you are free to be and express yourself. I’ll never take that experience for granted.”

Sunday was great but the Pride celebration kicked off on Thursday at an in-store pre-Pride celebration at the Xfinity store on Geary Boulevard where Internet personality, writer and podcaster Dana Piccoli recorded LIVE the fourth and last episode of Predicts, a special podcast about the history of Pride and sponsored by Comcast.

Besides enjoying great music, a photo booth, refreshments, raffles and giveaways, attendees had a chance to listen Dana’s interview with Taylor Barrett, writer, director and star of Work in Progress on Here TV. The two discussed the importance of LGBTQ representation in media and culture.

“It’s going to be hard to top this year, but we will. I can’t wait to see what Pride 2019 will bring,” said Cayton.