A Guide to All Things LA Pride

Sunshine. Palm trees. Celebrities walking the street. There’s a lot going for the City of Angels, not the least of which is the enormous and diverse LGBT community. And there’s no better time to catch some rays while celebrating LGBT identity than Los Angeles Pride!

Offering a whole week of events from June 2 through June 10, LA Pride’s theme this year, #JustBe, highlights the fierce independence of the LGBT community.

Things kicked this past weekend on June 2nd for the highly-anticipated annual LGBT Night at Universal Studio Hollywood! Proceeds benefit Christopher Street West, the organization in charge of LA Pride. The park was packed with fellow queers and allies dancing to today’s best music, and cutting a rug at one of multiple dance clubs! 

The next big event is the night of the 8th, with the LA Dodgers' LGBT Night! A ticket gets you exclusive access to a pre-kickoff party, entrance to the Dodgers’ game against the Atlanta Braves, and a commemorative LGBT Dodgers t-shirt to boot. Also making this event noteworthy are appearances from U.S. Olympian Gus Kenworthy, as well as Dale Scott, the first openly gay umpire in MLB history. Following the game, the audience will storm the field to enjoy a fireworks display. Talk about good, all-American fun!

June 9 and 10 will see tens of thousands of people take to the gay village of WeHo for the LA Pride Festival at West Hollywood Park. The festival has a ton to offer, including headlining performances from popular queer artists like Kehlani and Tove Lo—not to mention Drag Race royalty Vanessa "Miss Vanjie" Mateo and Eureka O’Hara! Come and dance your little gay heart out. Buy tickets in advance to make sure you get a spot!

Finally, on June 10 at 11am, Santa Monica Boulevard will be transformed into LGBT splendor for the world-famous LA Pride Parade. From your spot along the path, you will enjoy the spectacle of hundreds of floats, representing everything from local community organizations, to billion-dollar corporations, to loose drag queens who always just seem to be around. One of the biggest in the world, the LA Pride Parade is the perfect time to support the LGBT community—not to mention, get a heap of free condoms to boot!

If you want to learn more about the events associated with LA Pride, check out their YouTube channel to catch up on the #OwnYourPride, and follow them on Facebook here. And if you’re looking for more ways to get involved, look into volunteering to get a free ticket to LA Pride Festival!

Aside from being an international LGBT Mecca, Los Angeles has more than enough to offer people of all tastes. While you’re there, be sure to check out:

Amazing museums

The Broad Museum (pronounced “brode”), with its stunning contemporary façade, houses some of the world’s most jaw-dropping modern and contemporary art, including works by Jeff Koons and Takashi Murakami. Be sure not to miss Yayoi Kusama’s eminently Instagrammable Infinity Mirror Rooms, for which you can reserve your tickets in advance. And the best part? It’s all free! But that’s not all the culture of LA has to offer. Aside from being the biggest museum on the West Coast, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) offers must-see works of art from Picasso to ancient Mesoamerican art—not to mention Chris Burden’s equally Instagrammable Urban Light installation.

Celebrate LGBT history and culture

While the LGBT community in LA exists far and wide, no region can compare to the high-octane night life, LGBT shops, and generally fabulous air of West Hollywood. With a third of the population identifying as LGBT, there’s nowhere better to find gay bars and hotels. No wonder LA Pride chose this neighborhood as its starting place!

Glitz and glamour

"Rodeo Drive is a giant butterscotch sundae," Andy Warhol (may or may not have) once said. Whether this quote is real or not, walking along this gemstone of a street, it may very well call to mind all the decadence of your favorite desert. Rodeo Drive (pronounced “ro-Day-oh”), the palm-tree-lined street crossing through the heart of Beverly Hills, has become synonymous with luxury goods, gorgeous cards, and over-the-top wealth. Whether or not you buy anything here, simply walking down the street can make you feel like a million bucks!

Thriving international cultures

Los Angeles has always been a melting pot, and, today, it remains today one of the most diverse cities in the world. An abundance of enclaves, such as Little Tokyo, Koreatown, and Little Armenia, are unparalleled ways to discover cultures from the four corners of the globe, without ever having to leave the city!