Newt Gingrich’s Sister Leads Gay Pride Parade San Francisco Celebration Draws A Crowd Of 400,000

House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s sister smiled and waved to the ecstatic crowd as her purple Mustang inched down Market Street on Sunday, luxuriating in her new role as grand marshal of the city’s gay pride parade.

“I’m having a great time,” Candace Gingrich said from the convertible, squinting into the sun. “It’s a chance that too many people only have one day a year - the chance to be out.”

Some in the crowd shouted to her.

“Hey, Candace, tell your brother ‘Hi’ from me!” one man yelled.

Two women, arm in arm, shouted together, “You can be in our family any day!”

One first-time participant was Navy Lt. Cmdr. Zoe Dunning, who learned last week that the government is dropping its effort to drum her out of the service for homosexuality.

“This is the first time I’ve felt free to be part of my community,” she said as she walked with members of the Alexander Hamilton, San Francisco’s gay American Legion post.

Off to one side, 17 protesters waved signs with such slogans as “God Hates Fags,” “AIDS Cures Fags.”

“The whole thing is calculated to warn this evil city that they’re going the way of Sodom,” said the Rev. Fred Phelps of Topeka, Kan.

The group left when police told them officers were having difficulty protecting them.

Four counter-protesters were arrested for throwing eggs.

Police estimated 400,000 people turned out for what’s officially called the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Celebration. Organizers said it was the nation’s largest gay pride parade.

San Francisco’s parade featured marching bands, floats, square dancers, unicyclists, stilt walkers, and a group of topless bicycling women carrying signs reading “Scruffy Dykes On Clunky Bikes.”

“This is very good. This is the first time we have seen such a parade,” said Beijing tourist Liang Pingtian, whose family stumbled onto the parade by chance. “But what kind of people are these?”