Source: The San Francisco Chronicle
On March 26, 2002, The San Francisco Chronicle featured an article on "The Pagan Pride Parade, the Bay Area's first ever, [which] more or less coincided with the ancient European pagan festival Ostara... The official theme of the parade was the Return of the Snakes... Snakes represent transformation and healing, especially appropriate in a post-9/11 world... Organizer Micha Dunston said he's heard estimates there are 50,000 pagans in the Bay Area. Their many beliefs were represented at the Berkeley event by, among others, members of the Covenant of the Goddess, ceremonial magicians, eclectic pagans, members of N.R.O.O.G.D. -- the New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn -- and Wiccans of traditions too numerous to list... There was talk of the need for religious tolerance in the wake of the Sept. 11 attack. Dana Diana Kramer-Rolls, the event's information officer, a Wiccan elder who also has a Ph.D. in folklore and history of religions, said, 'It's time for the smaller religions to step forward and join hands in this celebration of pluralism.'"