Martinez said he’s been attending the festival since he was 18 and creating extravagant costumes with underlying meanings for Pride for almost 40 years. Martinez, who has worked as a support group facilitator for gay male seniors for 36 years, said he creates the costumes as a festive side hobby.

This year, he said the glitzy armor that took him about a month to create was intended as a comment on stereotypes of masculinity. 

“I’m taking a masculine gladiator outfit, and by making it pink and blinging it, it blurs that,” Martinez told SFGATE. “It plays with that idea.”

Martinez replaced the traditional gladiator horsehair with bright-pink ostrich feathers and spray-painted the armor pink. He also applied hundreds of pink, red and silver jewels to the armor. Martinez finished off his costume with a neon-pink feather-like skirt and draped it with bedazzled leather strips. 

“I loved the idea of the gladiator leather skirt,” he said.

He said he wanted to stray away from the stereotypical fashion choices for certain genders, like the idea that men typically wear blue instead of pink.

“I grew up gay, and it’s been fascinating for me to see how society puts genders in boxes,” he said.

Martinez said one of his favorite costumes he previously wore was inspired by Billy Porter’s 2019 tuxedo gown from the Academy Awards ceremony. 

“What I did is I took a ‘leather daddy’ leather outfit with chains and all that, with Balenciaga boots that were black, so it looked like this gown, but, you know, half leather daddy,” Martinez said.

He said the process of making costumes for Pride is a “joy,” and it’s exciting when members of the community ask for pictures. 

“Families and kids and people that are just impressed with an interesting costume and [a costume] that says something — perfect for gay day,” Martinez said. “I get nothing but positive regard.”