PRIDE

LGBTQ PRIDE MONTH

FESTIVALS AND CELEBRATIONS

ORANGE COUNTY LGBT PRIDE

Saturday, June 25

OC Pride will return after a two-year hiatus with the Love Out Loud! Festival taking place in downtown Santa Ana. The free event will begin with the OC Pride parade at 10:30 a.m. and the main festival follows from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Entertainment headliners include Mo Heart (previously known as Monique Heart) from RuPaul’s Drag Race. Also appearing will be Big Dipper, Pepper MaShay, Madison Rose and Boi Band. The 2022 festival promises to be bigger with additional stages and new zones. Look for the Pride Stage, Orgullo Stage, the Adult Kink and Leather Space powered by ONYX, Love Out Loud Dance Tent powered by iHeart Media, the new Trans Lounge, Family Zone, and Teen Space. WRUFF Events is producing the official kickoff party, Butch Please! on Friday, June 24 at the Yost Theater in Santa Ana. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Orange County Pride supporting local LGBTQ communities. prideoc.com

TRANS PRIDE LA

Thursday, June 16 - Saturday, June 18

The Los Angeles LGBT Center will host the annual Trans Pride LA, one of the nation’s oldest and most significant celebrations of the TGI/ ENBY+ (Trans, Gender Non-Conforming, Intersex, Non-Binary & Gender Expansive) community. The festivities will occur at the center’s Village at Ed Gould Plaza and Anita May Rosenstein Campus in Los Angeles.

“After two years of virtual Trans Pride events, we are looking forward to the return of this joyous event to The Village and Anita May Rosenstein Campus,” said Gina Bigham, the program manager of the center’s Trans* Lounge and event organizer. “These last two years have been extremely hard on our community. As we watch the continued assault on trans rights across the country, we are determined to celebrate and show the world our strength and resilience.”

Trans Pride LA will begin with a job fair presented by the center’s Transgender Economic Empowerment Project. Thursday evening, join Club Intersex for From Invisible to Inclusion, an intersectional discussion on intersex experiences and issues. This uplifting program will

bring together a panel of the intersex community’s thought leaders and activists who will highlight each panelist’s unique, intersectional lens.

Friday evening, for the 12th consecutive year, Trans Pride LA will host the center’s ongoing community forum series, Big Queer Convo. This year’s special guest will be Latine/x non-binary/gender fluid actor and activist Vico Ortiz from the HBO Max series Our Flag Means Death. Admission to Big Queer Convo is free. Register at lalgbtcenter.org/ transpride.

“We are delighted, after the hiatus caused by the pandemic, to welcome our community back to the center’s Anita May Rosenstein Campus for this beautiful celebration of Pride and visibility,” said Joe Hollendoner, the center’s incoming CEO. “Trans Pride is a signature event of Pride month, and the center is proud to continue our role organizing it.”

After the Big Queer Convo, the evening will continue with the gallery opening of SYZYGY, curated by Marval A Rex, and featuring an interdisciplinary cornucopia of artworks. The exhibition will contain video work, painting, mixed media and drawings from a dynamic selection of TGI/ ENBY+ artists living and working in Los Angeles.

On Saturday, the celebration will continue with a self-defense workshop presented by Harmony Lee, a flower crown-making workshop in honor of trans icon Marsha P. Johnson. In addition, free food trucks will be available and nearly 50 organizations will participate in a resource fair. Information on a wide array of services and programs vital to the TGI/ENBY+ community will be made available to attendees.

Saturday evening activities will include a Happy Hour presented by Tito’s Handmade Vodka and The VarieTy Show. This year, the show will offer an array of performers, including host Abdullah Hall (artistic director, Trans Chorus of Los Angeles), singers Ty Deran and Jakk Fynn, comedian Seven Graham, spoken word artist Jaden Fields, aerialists Louis Reyes Chavez & Samuel Petre, performance artist Yozmit, the Trans Chorus of LA and a drag performance by Vico Ortiz, aka Vico Suave.

transpride.lalgbtcenter.org

CATALINA PRIDE

Saturday, June 18

Love Catalina Island Tourism Authority will welcome the first largescale Pride event to the island. Held from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., festivities will include live entertainment, music and a Pride march supporting the LGBTQ community. “It is an honor to bring the first large-scale Catalina Pride event to the island,” said Jim Luttjohann,Love Catalina Island president & CEO. “LGBTQ+ equality is an important issue that we as a tourism organization and community feel strongly about and wholeheartedly support. We are thrilled to be partnering with such incredible talent and invite all LGBTQ+ community members and allies to join us for a fun-filled day in celebration of love.” The Pride march will begin at noon in the Center of Avalon at Wrigley Stage. Don your rainbow attire and join in a fun march that will continue along the boardwalk to the iconic Casino Point. This year’s musical lineup will feature DJ Asha, a six-time host for LA Pride, and DJ Groovesection, a three-time DJ for Long Beach Pride. Wrigley Stage will feature a preview of the upcoming YouTube show Mugs hosted by drag queens Miss Patty and Anita Diemund along with performances from the Long Beach Cheer squad, roller skaters and more. Attendees can enjoy free admission to a beer garden from noon to 7 p.m. The beer garden will offer a variety of beers and the special edition Bud Light Pride Rainbow beer bottles, which will also be served at participating restaurants throughout the weekend. In addition, the historic Catalina Island Casino will be lit in rainbow colors to showcase Catalina’s love and support for the LGBTQ community. Limited edition merchandise, including Love Catalina Pride T-shirts and sweatshirts emblazoned with the memorable LGBTQ Pride Love Catalina burgee flag logo on the front, can be ordered online.

lovecatalina.com/pride

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY PRIDE

Saturday, June 25

Celebrate a historic annual event for the LGBTQ community in the San Fernando Valley among 2,000+ community members. This grassroots Pride event will offer networking, live entertainment, art installations, poetry, interactive art marking, a healing wellness tent, a drag pageant, a vogue ball, venders, food tastings, a youth scholarship, and community building. Support the distinctive San Fernando Valley Pride organized by and for LGBTQ people of color who work year-round for the 818 communities. Somos Familia Valle is the San Fernando Valley community-based organization created and led by local, low-income, first-generation college students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or other sexual and gender minorities people of color. Somos Familia Valle was founded in 2014 and started the first San Fernando Valley Pride March & Conference later that year in Panorama City with the theme Coming Out of the Shadows. It sprouted the 100% volunteerled grassroots LGBTQ movement in the Valley. somosfamiliavalle.org

SAMO PRIDE

Wednesday, June 1 – Thursday, June 30

Santa Monica’s citywide celebration will be anchored by Miles of Pride, a vibrant light installation spanning the Third Street Promenade and Santa Monica Place. Other city landmarks, including City Hall, Santa Monica Pier, and the Main Street Santa Monica Travel and Tourism visitor’s center, will also have lighting displays as an extension of Miles of Pride. These installations will illuminate the sky with a rainbow of colors and serve as a backdrop for a full calendar of events that celebrate the LGBTQ community, individuality, inclusivity and acceptance.

The first SaMo PRIDE event will kick off Friday, June 3 at Santa Monica Place, which will host the Made with PRIDE Marketplace every Friday through Sunday in June. The retail marketplace showcases over 15 Southern California LGBTQ business owners, highlighting their stories, unique products and services. Santa Monica Place will also host a live DJ spinning every weekend throughout the month, where guests can enjoy music under Lanterns of Love. This overhead-colored lantern installation spans across Center Plaza.

Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. will host live events on the Third Street Promenade Friday, June 17 through Sunday, June 19. The popular Mortified Podcast will present a particular SaMo Pride installment featuring stories shared by members of the queer community in front of a live audience. The outdoor market bazaar, Angel City Market, will bring together minority-owned small businesses for a day of shopping, good drinks and community connection on June 18. The market will feature hand-crafted items from artisans and Pride-themed goodies and activations. SaMo Pride’s dance master, Dane Sorenson, will lead the high-energy dance aerobics class Dancing with Dane on Sunday, June 19, suited for all ages and abilities.

Two art installations by James Kinsley Daniel titled “I Stand with Trans Youth” and “I Love My Queer Family” will be on view on the Promenade. Curated by Allies in Arts, these interactive pieces respond to current rises in transphobic legislation and rhetoric, allowing visitors to pose with and photograph the installations to show support for trans youth and queer family.

The Santa Monica Pier will celebrate the community with a unique display. The iconic and historic windows of the Pier’s Merry-Go-Round will be brought to life by celebrating all things Pride.

The city is dedicated to increasing visibility and understanding of the broad spectrum of gender identities and experiences within the LGBTQ community. The city celebrates Pride with the monthlong lighting of City Hall in rainbow colors and a series of educational, uplifting events during June. Community events will include the Party with a Purpose mixer and fundraiser on June 2, Queer Prom at the Water Garden on June 18, a Pride Sunset Swim at the Annenberg Community Beach House on June 24, and the City Council’s Pride Proclamation on June 28. smpride.com

LA PRIDE

Saturday, June 11 – Sunday, June 12

LA Pride in the Park is LA Pride’s in-person, festival-style event with an afternoon and evening of activities, music, vendors and exhibitors’ booths, sponsor activations, much food and drink, and 21-and-older beer gardens. The event will run from 1 to 11 p.m. on Saturday at Los Angeles State Historic Park. With over 30 acres of gorgeous green lawn and a capacity for 25,000, the 2022 LA Pride in the Park has the potential to be the best LA Pride ever.

Six-time Grammy-winning artist and longtime LGBTQ ally Christina Aguilera will headline LA Pride. She will be joined by Brazilian superstar Anitta, multi-genre singer-songwriter Syd, groundbreaking awardwinning trans actress and singer Michaela Jaé, and over a dozen other artists.

“We’re thrilled to have women, the majority of them LGBTQIA+ artists of color, lead our mainstage event to celebrate our return to Pride,” said Gerald Garth, vice president of community programming and initiatives. “Los Angeles represents a broad range of cultures, backgrounds and identities, especially across the BIPOC communities. Bringing influential and diverse artists is a nod to the many different people reflected within our community.”

TikTok will serves as presenting sponsor for this year’s LA Pride Parade on Sunday on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood. Come out and cheer for over 130 parade floats, marchers, trucks, exotic cars, twirlers, performers and more, marching in style as only the LGBTQ community of LA and its allies can. This year’s theme is #LoveYourPride, and you can celebrate with thousands of your closest friends in a spirit of unity, joy and fabulousness.

“More than ever, we’re thankful for the proactive support from our sponsors to help bring the parade and music event back to life after a two-year hiatus,” Garth said. “Pride is about celebrating and giving back to our LGBTQ+ family and we are thrilled to have partners like TikTok, who have committed to collaboration and support through our groundbreaking partnership.” lapride.org