SAN DIEGO -- This coming weekend there will be floats and marchers and bikers and festival workers and Margaret Cho, but a group of local gay surfers will be celebrating Pride in the best way they know how … by taking to the water.

This weekend is San Diego's annual LGBT Pride celebration and revelers will be taking to the streets of both Hillcrest and Balboa Park to participate in all the festivities.

Sunday, July 17th also happens to be International Gay Surfer's Day, the first annual event of its kind.

Jonathan Louie, a San Diegan and local group administrator for the international website Gaysurfers.net, is planning on commemorating the day here in San Diego county, in the waters off of San Onofre.

Gaysurfers.net is a social networking website for LGBT surfers around the world. The website was launched in February of 2010 and memberships have grown in leaps and bounds ever since.

The private "members only" website offers members a safe place to meet, create surf groups based on geographic location, organize meet-ups, share experiences and identify favorite as well as gay friendly surfing spots around the world.

San Diego Gay & Lesbian News profiled Gaysurfers.net last year.

Paddle out with Pride

San Diego has a significant number of gay surfers, both male and female, and Louie hopes they will all come together to celebrate not only Pride in San Diego, but gay surfing throughout the world.

"Why not speak up and say where you live and if you're willing to drive or want a ride or if you can carry some boards, so there's the option to carpool," said Louie in an email to currently registered members. "Because entrance to the state park is steep and going by yourself isn't green, nor fun and it will cost.

"I hope to meet you. I know this is one of the largest numbers of surfers in one locale on all of GS.net, yet I've only surfed with maybe 6, and never together! And you guys whose boards I see all the time at Blacks, I hope some of you can come, I wanna meet you. Same for the gals that I know surf Garbage."

Louie is requesting that local gay surfers take to the forum on the website and comment on whether the San Diego contingent should BBQ, carpool, share tide tables, etc.

If you'd like to attend the meet-up, visit the event on the same page as the forum and click "attending." Note - you must be a registered user of gaysurfers.net to access these pages.

If you have questions, contact Jonathan through the gaysurfer.net website.