Festivities start May 22 with Harvey Milk Day, honoring the first openly gay California politician, slain in office in 1978, and continue into June with the WeHo (West Hollywood) Pride Festival, with Pride Weekend held June 2-4 with an annual Dyke March and Women’s Freedom Festival, a street fair, a Sunday parade and more. Mariah Carey and Megan Thee Stallion will headline L.A. Pride in the Park held June 9-10 at Los Angeles State Historic Park (their show will be June 9). There’s a slew of other events like an after-hours theme park experience at Universal’s Super Nintendo World on June 8, and the June 11 Pride Parade. Baseball lovers can join the 10th annual LGBTQ+ Night at Dodger Stadium on June 16. Plus, check out events in nearby Santa Monica.
Pride celebrations are an integral part of any city’s year. Coming together to celebrate queer and LGTBQ+ identity is essential after our country’s past of people not feeling safe coming out of the closet, the military’s discriminatory and thankfully abandoned “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, attacks on our gay and trans community, and even hateful legislation that even as recently as last month is enacted to limit rights (hello, Florida!). Plus, it’s empowering and uplifting to be in a groundswell of Prideful people just being themselves/ourselves. Amnesty International outlines five reasons why Pride celebrations matter, and #1 on the list is that threats, violence and harassment still happen every day based on real or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. Pride is more than just a fabulous dance party—although it is that, too—it’s a significant message-sending gathering of love and strength.
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