Thirty years later, the council has two members who are out: Vice Mayor Robert Garcia and Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske. In 1983, when the pride organization was formed and the festival was still an idea, then-Pride Vice President Mary Martinez attended a City Council meeting and listened to hostile comments from council members and citizens who were against the festival. The festival and parade started as an effort by the local gay community to make its own identity while living in the shadow of Los Angeles’ pride event. Long Beach pride celebration attendance figures make it the second-largest gay pride event in Southern California (West Hollywood is the largest), and the nation’s fourth-largest gay pride event - behind San Francisco, New York and West Hollywood.Īcceptance of the festival and parade, and gays and lesbians in general, have shifted dramatically since the festival and parade’s early days. On Sunday, pride organizers estimate 35,000 people will line Ocean Boulevard and cheer the more than 100 parade participants marching under the boulevard’s rainbow flags.
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