Hundreds celebrate LGBTQ community during final day of Long Beach Pride weekend

As people made their way through the Marina Green Park during the last day of the annual Long Beach Pride Festival, they were ready to dance, watch drag shows — and celebrate the LGBTQ community.

A rainbow of color washed over downtown Long Beach on Sunday afternoon, Aug. 6, with hundreds — many in extravagant, colorful and glittery outfits — enjoying the final day of Pride weekend, hours after the traditional parade marched down Ocean Boulevard.

Carlos Gaitan, from North Hollywood, was among the crowd Sunday, donning an ensemble that included four-inch heels with rainbow laces. Pride celebrations like the one in Long Beach provide spaces for many members of the LGBTQ community to dress like their authentic selves, he said.

“This is the only time that I can really put myself together,” Gaitan said. “All this is what you represent, and this is me.”

Gaitan had been looking forward to the festival for months. He was looking forward to seeing one of the musical headliners for the event, acclaimed actress/singer Laura León, at the Fiesta Caliente Stage.

Grammy Award-winning artist Mya was also slated to perform later that evening at the Urban Stage. Throughout the day, attendees also had other entertainment options to enjoy, including DJ sets at stages spread around the festival grounds ranging in genres from Latin to country music.

The two-day Long Beach Pride Festival, as well as Sunday morning’s parade, has become one of the largest LGBTQ events in the region since its inception in the early 1980s. This year’s event also celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Long Beach Pride nonprofit that started it all.

But for some people, this year was the first time they had attended the popular festivities.

Amy Saenz and May Nelson, from San Clemente, said they were enjoying their first time at both the parade and festival

“It’s amazing,” Saenz said. “We went to the parade, which was pretty fun and we’ve enjoyed the Drag Dome. Pride is about being who you want to be without being judged.”

The Drag Dome was a new addition to the festival’s happenings this year. It featured acts from Mayhem Miller, Jasmine Masters, Delta Work, April Carrion, Militia Scunt and Honey Davenport. There was also a drag queen story time section for children.

The festival also featured a Family Fun Zone, which had activities that children and their parents could enjoy, as well as a Senior Fun Zone, which offered LGBTQ folks over 65 activities such as karaoke.

There was something for everyone to enjoy, including multiple rows of vendors, diverse food stands, and information booths.

People of all ages also enjoyed the festival.

Graciela Alvarez and her granddaughter, Lupita Serrano, attended Sunday with their family from Wilmington, for example. This was Lupita’s first time at Pride and they took the time to visit each booth.

“For me, it’s really beautiful to see everyone,” Alvarez said. “It’s also really fun because we’re sharing with the community and we’re learning and informing ourselves about the community. I come to support everyone.”

For many members of the LGBTQ community, the festival was not only a time of celebration but was a reminder to continue advocating and fighting for the rights of the community. Many performers on the festival stages also reminded attendees of that sentiment.

Angel Elizalde, from Los Angeles, said that working with LGBTQ youth at the nonprofit Latino Equity Alliance, made him appreciate welcoming spaces such as the Long Beach Pride Festival, especially with recent attacks on the community.

Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and legislation have spiked dramatically in recent years. Since 2022, a slew of Republican-backed anti-gay and anti-transgender legislation has come under consideration, or has already been enacted, in statehouses nationwide.

This year, according to the Human Rights Campaign, a record 520 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in various state legislatures — 220 of which specifically target transgender and non-binary people.

Of those, 70 bills —which ban gender-affirming care for trans kids, allow students to be misgendered, target drag performances, facilitate discrimination against LGBTQ people and censor LGBTQ curriculum — have already been enacted as of May, the HRC said.

Hate crimes are also on the rise, according to HRC. Since January, 15 transgender and gender-nonconforming people have been killed by violent means — the majority of whom were Black trans women.

“It’s really important to highlight the issues that are going on right now; all the bills that are going on right now against our community are really impactful,” Elizalde said. “If we keep up with the education of our community, we’ll create safer spaces for everyone like (at the festival). But for today, we celebrate our differences.”