. >> and randy shiltz shares his observations and takes on san francisco pride circa 1980. good afternoon everyone i'm mark somerville. welcome to a second look. tonight a look back at the bay area's rich gay pride history. the parade draws over 1 million people. but through the years the parade has meant a lot of different things to different people. >> reporter: gay and lesbian people would not have marched down the street the last 15 years ago. nonetheless, wear costumes. floats were sponsored by blue chip corporations and refreshments were pedaled by iconic american brand names, coke, pepsi, budweiser. has the parade just become a big party. a commercialized event with nothing left to say. it was anything but widely accepted in 1972 when a band of gays, lesbians, hippies and anarchys marched down the street. and as their numbers grew so did their boldness. for the first time many felt safe in being publicly gay. even flamboyantly gay. and according to susan striker, director of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender society -- >> they're too showy. they're too visible.