Travel : L.A. Pride
One of the many benefits of living in Southern California, especially during pride month is the number of options you have for letting your pride shine.
I’m in LA every couple weeks but WEHO is not the draw it used to be for me so going to LA Pride is an excuse for me to check out the old neighborhood and chat with a few old friends.
We get to the parade route early so we can watch them set up and practice their routines. We get to our favorite watering hole which is situated a few blocks from the start of the parade. Not as many people at the start so it’s still manageable to see what’s going on. LA Pride does not disappoint.
The floats are always amazing, the parade participants are a who’s who of whatever support group you belong to. Very few politicians this year, which is odd considering it’s an election year but hey, that leaves room for more muscle boys in speedos.
The best thing about the pride day wherever you are is the festival afterwards. I’m surprised who performs at some of these events. Check your local guide to see who is playing ta your festival. LA like most of the larger cities also has the big circuit parties going on. Those can last until 6AM with the after parties lasting until noon the next day. Drink lots of water.
Don’t worry if you missed LA or Long Beach Pride. The season has just begun. Here are a few parades coming up in June and July. Search the internet for dates and times.
Fresno Pride, Joshua Tree Pride. Sacramento Pride, Orange County Pride, San Diego Pride, Sonoma County/ Russian River Pride, Central Coast Pride, Santa Barbara Pride and San Francisco Pride.
Pride season lasts all the way to Palm Springs Pride which is the first weekend of November. Get out there and celebrate pride, who doesn’t like a parade?
g skorich
Why do they still have pride? Gay people can get married there now
I’ve never been to a pride event. I’m a little intimidated.
Joshua Tree has a pride parade? Incredible! I dunno about lesbians, but when I used to live not far from there (Twenty-Nine Palms) it seemed there were about 5 or 6 gay guys who lived there. That’s very interesting.
What i will never figure out is why gays have to have a parade to flaunt their sexual lifestyle. Straights do not, why not just keep it to yourself, no one cares what u do in your own bedroom?
Bill Price :
Do you know that people get killed in some countries to be gay? Do you know that anal sex is illegal in many countries? Pride parades are made for them, to give them hope to send them a message of love and that we are with them and that it is fine to be who they are. We don’t need to do it for us in Canada or in USA, we are lucky. Everywhere in the world, people see that we have a “pride month” , a pride parade, there’s songs that plays on the radio, song by some of our greatest singers Gaga, Madonna, Celine, Cher, Macklemore that talks about #samelove, #gaylove, #love, and that we are all equal wherever we are! It’s for others, people that don’t have these rights in their countries. If we stop, they will never have these rights. That’s why we don’t stop!
While I’ve never been to a Pride, I definitely see why it began and why it still needs to exist.
Um… yeah, all the pseudo-acceptance crap just started yesterday. A few years back, gays were still getting their heads smashed in (it’s called getting ‘Bashed’ if you forgot Bill Price) … and that still happens today, people just don’t care anymore because mock-equality has arrived to un-save the day. Why is Michael Sam (hopeful first unafraid gay NFL player) a big deal? Why was military service just recently declassified as ‘straights only’? Nearly every time a straight guy gets mad (like a bratty bitch), the first word out his mouth is ‘FAG’. And if being gay is so normal, why are so many still in the proverbial closet?
Everything doesn’t change at once. Pride will evolve once being gay isn’t still something you either hide or minimize to allow the majority to retain a feeling of superiority. That’s just the reality of it, bud.
Being gay isn’t just about what happens in someone’s bedroom. It’s what happens at jobs (in 38 states, you can still be fired for being gay). It’s what happens at hospitals (most states don’t have legislation that says that hospitals have to let you stay with your partner). It’s about keeping an apartment or house (in most states, you can be kicked out of housing for being gay). It’s about being able to fucking hold hands walking down the street. It’s about being able to show affection without getting the shit kicked out of you by some small-minded bigot and his micro-penised dudebro friends.
If you think it’s all about sex? Fuck you. You need a fucking education and some goddamned empathy. Why isn’t there a straight pride? There is one. It’s called “every day.” Being gay isn’t a lifestyle. It’s a life. It’s not a choice. You’re confusing that with religion.