The Guide To Pride In LA
Image: Marco Verch Professional Photographer, Flickr
Happy Pride Month to you and yours! This year we’re focusing on one of the earliest places to champion equality, diversity and inclusion, having now waved the rainbow flag for over 50 years. Welcome to Los Angeles Pride 2022.
Early June - June 23: Rooftop Cinema Club
Head on over to El Segundo for an outdoor movie experience like no other, showing films such as Rocketman, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Wizard of Oz. A portion of all proceeds will go to the Trevor Project - a suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for young LGBTQIA+ people. Tickets are now on sale
Early June - June 30: Santa Monica Rainbow Road Art Walk
This month-long exhibition features original creations by LGBTQIA+ artists.
Early June - June 30: Love Note
A free, interactive, audio expedition in West Hollywood’s Plummer Park inviting you to journey through eight stops and listen to narrative experiences of love, romance and compassion, culminating in a secret phone line that asks you to share your own love story. Swoon.
Early June - July 1: Pride Publics: Words And Actions
This free outdoor exhibition examines the relationship between gay pride and public life.
Throughout June: SaMo Pride 2022
A month-long celebration filled with free and family-friendly rainbow-colored festivities to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community in Santa Monica. ‘Miles of Pride’ - a vibrant light installation - will illuminate the sky with a rainbow of colors, while the Santa Monica City Hall will also be lit up every evening from 7-11.30 pm.
Finally, check out the Made With Pride Marketplace - a unique pop-up wonder, showcasing a different lineup of vendors each weekend, aiming to support LGBTQIA+ businesses. Interactive art installations and workshops will also feature throughout the month.
Santa Monica is also home to the Venice Pride Flag Lifeguard Tower at Venice Beach.
Throughout June: Teen Grab-And-Go Crafts: Rainbow Garland
Teens and tweens aged between 11-18 can come to pick up a rainbow garland craft kit from the North Hollywood Amelia Earhart Regional Library.
June 9: Pride Bingo - The Grove
Head to Parking Level 8 for this unbeatable transformation into a lively bingo night - made even more special this year because the incredible shopping destination is celebrating its 20th anniversary, too! Featuring panoramic views of the city, live entertainment, food and - of course - an epic game of bingo that includes prizes from The Grove’s retailers and restaurants (yes, please!), you can be sure this much-loved LGBT pride event will make for an Insta-worthy post (or seven).
June 10: Burbank YMCA’s Pride Prom
Calling all middle and high-school students! Celebrate prom in a safe space with a DJ, food and drinks - free of charge but requires an RSVP beforehand. Well, it’d be rude not to!
Book your Burbank airport transfer here
June 10-30: COME4ME by Kim Chi’ Donuts - Trejo’s Coffee & Donuts
Hollywood favorite Danny Trejo - and his shop - are teaming up with RuPaul’s DragRace alum Kim Chi of KimChi Chic Beauty & KimChi Eats to create a limited-edition donut filled with cream cheese and topped with a white chocolate glitter glaze, passion fruit buttercream, candied dragon fruit and passion fruit flakes (well, would you expect anything less?).
June 11: Dyke Day LA - Sycamore Grove Park
DJs, arts and crafts and information tables from local organizations are all waiting for you at this free, family-friendly event. Don’t forget to bring a picnic!
June 11: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Get ready for the museum’s first-ever Queer Family Day, featuring a rainbow-themed scavenger hunt, dino dance party and storytime with a drag queen! Free with museum admission and for members.
June 11-13: Pride Poets Poetry Hotline
Get a custom poem written for your loved one on the spot! ~ Love heart ~
June 12: LA Pride Parade
Back with a vengeance after a 2020 hiatus, expect live performers, festive marchers, classic cars and 130 colorful floats making their way down Hollywood Boulevard for this Pride march, not to mention the Ferris wheel and festival area on offer, too! This will always hold a special place in history as the first permitted gay parade route in the world. Now, that’s something to feel proud about, hey, Los Angeles?
Book your Los Angeles sightseeing pass here
June 12: The Wizard of Oz - Cinespia
There’s no place like the Hollywood Forever Cemetery to celebrate the 100th birthday of Judy Garland with this special Los Angeles Pride 2022 screening! Food and drink are all available on-site, as is a free photo booth and DJ sets playing both before and after the movie. Just follow the rainbow brick road!
June 16-18: Trans Pride LA - Los Angeles LGBT Center
Yet another free celebration featuring both in-person and virtual events that include a range of fairs, conversations and shows.
June 18: Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles’s Tribute To Queen!
Find out why LA is the mother of Pride; the Champion of having Somebody To Love in this free event that will seriously Rock You! Ahem, we’ll, er, leave the rest of the singing to these guys. Sorry.
June 18: Q Con
Prism Comics hosts its first-ever family-friendly celebration of LGBTQIA+ comics, graphic novels and games - and their creators - who are only too happy to sign autographs! Cosplay is firmly encouraged.
June 24: Pride Is Universal 2022
As if Universal Studios could get any better! Come for the rides, stay for the after-party into the night.
June 26: Pride Picnic - Hollywood Forever Cemetery
An evening picnic soundtracked by a live DJ and drag performances. Bring your own chair, blanket, food, and drink, although cocktails and food trucks will also be on-site. Book tickets now
Some year-round gay-friendly things to do in LA
Pride Month is great - of course, it is - but there are always things to do and see in Los Angeles to remind you of just what an inclusive city this truly is. Here are some examples:
LA Public Library. An essential resource for LGBTQIA+ history, providing access to a wealth of media for all ages - both physical and digital - including books, videos, maps and movies which illustrate the struggle for equal rights in the gay community.
El Pueblo de Los Ángeles. LA was first settled in 1781 by the Tongva tribe, which was, remarkably, LGBTQ -friendly! They believed that homosexuality was determined in the womb and, as such, celebrated openly gay marriages and transgender lifestyles. In short, everyone was treated the same, regardless of their sexual orientation. A plaque in the plaza area rightly honors them.
The Wall Las Memorias AIDS Monument. Head to Lincoln Park for the first publicly-funded AIDS monument in the country, depicting life with the disease in the Latino community and two granite panels that will eventually display the names of 8,000 people who lost their lives to it.
Ready to wave your flag? We’re right behind you.
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