A-LISTS community
LOS ANGELES 4 PRIDE0TH YEAR
CELEBRATION
by tim parks It’s here, it’s most definitely queer, and after 40 years—does anyone really get used to
how much fun Los Angeles Pride is? And the coming together of our community isn’t just subscribed to watching floats, hot guys on floats, a celebrity Grand Marshall, or even hot guys lining the procession route, or the endless parade of parties and the like. It really is a time to celebrate unity on June 11, 12 and 13 and how far “our people” have come in the days since the Stonewall Riots in 1969. It is certainly in tune with Christopher Street West’s 2010 Honorees for the 40th an-
nual L.A. Pride extravaganza, held in conjunction with the City of West Hollywood. The organization is recognizing Emmy-award winning out lesbian news journalist
Jane Velez with their Person of the Year Award, for her honest look at overcoming
addiction in her autobiography I Want: My Journey from Addiction and Overconsump-
tion to a Simpler, Honest Life. Nadia Sutton is the recipient of The Morris Kight Lifetime Achievement Award for founding PAWS/LA in 1989, while Reverend Dr. Neil G. Thomas is slated to pick up The Harvey Milk Award. In the spirit of these gay rights pioneers, (CSW) is also praising community champion
and DIVAS Simply Singing founder/actress Sheryl Lee Ralph with the George Moscone Award. Speaking of divas, the non-profit organization D.I.V.A. (Diverse and Inclusive Visionary Artists), will pick up the Torie Osborn/Dick Michaels Media Award for their commitment to promoting creative accomplishments and giving visibility to multi- cultural LGBT artists in the media. And the spotlight will also shine on the West Coast Singers, as they take home the
Pat Parker Arts Award, while a Special Community Award is being given to the Best In Drag Show, a spoof of the Miss America Pageant that began in 1989, and has collected over $1 million dollars in donations since its inception. Ari Ruiz, Guy Baldwin, HONOR PAC and MAC Cosmetics will also be duly noted with
their Outstanding Youth Leader, Berman/Schaffer, CSW Special Community and Shel- don Andelson Awards, in that order. The theme of this year’s merriment hopes to go beyond the weekend with its procla-
mation of “Pride 365,” and its focus on the three P’s: “Power. Passion. Purpose.” Friday night at 7:00 p.m. is the start of the three-day revelry, with The Lesbian Vis-
ibility Committee of the City of West Hollywood and CSW joining forces for West Hol- lywood Dyke March with an after party to follow. The Dyke March Rally, as it is more commonly known, features honorary speakers and the dykes getting on their bikes (motorcycles that is) for a jaunt that ends up at the festival grounds and begins the aforementioned after party. A Pride Run, which is peopled by the running/walking club L.A. Front Runners, is a 29-year-old tradition and begins at 7:45 a.m. for 5K participants, 8:15 for 10K-types, with a Kids Race bringing up the rear at 9:30 on Saturday morning. All proceeds benefit Gay & Elder Housing and the race begins at We-Ho City Hall. (To register, log on to
lafrontrunners.com). The Pride Festival will be held on San Vincente Blvd. (between Santa Monica Blvd.
and Melrose Ave.) on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 11:00 p.m. and then 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., respectively. The festival grounds have a new lay of the land to them this year, but will have the
tried and true favorites, which make for a mandatory participation event. There will be exhibitors and their wares, food and drink venues, community programming and
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RAGE monthly | JUNE 2010
dance pavilions. The latter get-your-groove-on areas are reflective of LGBT life itself, with a plethora of diversity being highlighted in the forms of a Mainstage Dance area, Erotic City, Latin Dance, Rhythm & Soul and a Country Dance Pavilion to boot, so to speak. And, of course the stage is set for revelers to be entertained by the headlining acts in this area. Admission is only $20 per day, or $15 per day, if you purchase your tickets in advance from
LAPRIDE.org Naturally, no trip to L.A. Pride would be complete without watching the Parade,
which takes place on Sunday, June 13 and begins at 11:00 a.m., and will go west (as both The Village People and The Pet Shop Boys sang) along Santa Monica Blvd., from Crescent Heights Blvd. to Robertson Blvd. This year’s convoy includes 125 entries, made up from all types of literal community
walks of life, from advocacy groups to special guests being driven in convertibles. And for those who remember how crazy last year’s charitable party at Palihouse was,
the Second Annual Pride at Palihouse brings us a rockin’ brunch and rooftop barbe- cue on Sunday, June 13 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Hot cameo appearances include Playgirl cover guy Ronnie Kroell and DJ Ryan Kenney. Bottle service available! Palihouse is located at 8465 Holloway Dr. in West Hollywood. This event benefits White Knot for Equality, a non-profit organization which brings awareness to marriage and LGBT equal- ity. For more information and to R.S.V.P., call 310.271.0059 or visit chadhudsonevents. com. A Silent Celebration will take place at noon during the proceedings, in which the
estimated 400,000 Pride-goers are asked to partake in a moment of silence and the Pa- rade itself comes to a halt, in expressing gratitude to those who have fought the good fight for the community-at-large. The Silent Celebration also serves a dual purpose of wordlessly remembering individuals, who have also bravely battled HIV, AIDS, and breast, prostate, colon and testicular cancers.
The 2010 Grand Marshalls are Sharon and Kelly Osbourne. For those not able
to attend, the Parade will be televised on Time Warner Cable Channel 10 for We-Ho denizens and streamed online at
LAPRIDE.org/webcast, for the world to see Pride done right.
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