Festival returning to Hollywood
By Susan Payne
After a two year hiatus, the second largest pride parade in the nation will make a return on June 12, according to a press release from Christopher Street West, the nonprofit that produces LA Pride.
This year, LA Pride is shifting away from its West Hollywood location and back to its roots in Hollywood at its “first and original location,” stated Gerald Garth, vice president of programs and initiatives at CSW.
“As a mission-driven and community-centered nonprofit organization, CSW recognizes that LGBTQ+ experiences of Los Angeles are broader than just one neighborhood. Considering feedback gathered since the pandemic began, we are committed to creating experiences and access to our entire community, including many of those who have been most underserved and underrepresented,” Garth stated.
CSW organized the world’s first permitted parade advocating for gay rights on June 28, 1970, to commemorate the Stonewall Rebellion on Christopher Street in New York City the year prior.
Every year since — except 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — CSW organizes Pride Month activations and events thematically. This year, Pride Month is a commitment to equity that will live beyond the month of June focusing on generational, experiential and geographic diversity.
“We considered many options for the parade, both traditional and progressive. Hollywood as the original historical location for the first Los Angeles protest 50 years age was a natural choice to honor what pride really means and where pride will go in the future,” Garth stated.
Outlined by LA County Health officials and the CDC, LA Pride will follow health and safety guidelines, according to the release. Information about route, safety, security, float capacity and further parade and programming will be available on LApride.org.
For sponsorship and talent inquiries, contact LA Pride at intheknow@lapride.org. For more information, find @lapride on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or visit LApride.org.
