All events in Los Angeles
Pride in Los Angeles
To allow the first parade, the Los Angeles police asked for $1.5 million in bonds. A court said no - and the city got the first officially permitted Pride parade in the world.
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LGBTQ+ Friendly🌈 · Los Angeles
FRI 25 SEP
SAT 26 SEP
SAT 3 OCT
THU 8 OCT
SAT 10 OCT
FRI 16 OCT
SUN 18 OCT
FRI 23 OCT
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SAT 21 NOV
Pride in Los Angeles
Christopher Street West was formed in 1970 to organise a parade marking the Stonewall uprising of the year before. The idea and the name were the joint work of three community leaders - the Reverend Bob Humphries, Morris Kight and the Reverend Troy Perry. The Police Commission demanded bonds totalling $1.5 million and $1,500 for police overtime before it would issue a permit. The ACLU took up the case, attorney Herbert Selwyn appealed to the Superior Court of California, and the court ordered the permit issued and made the police responsible for protecting those taking part.
The parade ran on Hollywood Boulevard from 1970 to 1978 and in 1979 moved, festival and all, to Santa Monica Boulevard - in the area that later became West Hollywood, to this day the heart of the city's queer life. LA Pride is held in June, and the scene is not confined there: it spreads through Silver Lake, Downtown and East LA, with parties, drag nights and events year-round, in a city so large that every neighbourhood has its own. The list here shows LGBTQ+ friendly events as a whole and not only the days of the parade.
Common questions
Why is the Los Angeles parade considered the first official one?+
Because Christopher Street West was the first organisation to obtain a permit for a Pride parade, in 1970. The police had demanded $1.5 million in bonds; the Superior Court of California ordered the permit issued.
Where is the queer scene in Los Angeles?+
Mainly in West Hollywood, where the parade moved in 1979, but also in Silver Lake, Downtown and East LA, with events year-round.