Pride. Lots of fun, but thank goodness, it is over!

More than 300,000 people clogged Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood Sunday, June 10^th for the 37^th annual Los Angeles Gay Pride parade and celebration. Grand Marshaled by NBA great John Amaechi, floats and marchers traversed Santa Monica Blvd for over two hours. Afterwards, the crowd packed into the festival to view the many booths, cool off with cold drinks, munch on sausage sandwiches, dance in the disco, enjoy the live entertainment, and people-watch some more.

I was not there.

I spent a lovely Saturday afternoon at my table in the Keller Williams Realty booth at the festival, signing up people for a free drawing for a $100.00 Home Depot gift card, (which a lucky young lady from Marina Del Rey won). Then I went to my weekend job, bartending at a packed Mother Lode on Saturday night nonstop until closing, and returned early in the morning to sling drinks to a full house for eight more hours during the parade on Sunday. Because the job is an important social outlet for me, it was great, seeing all those people that I only see once a year, every year, at Pride. I have been bartending there long enough to have watched many of my customers grow up from cute young men into fine adults. However, all those years have taken their toll. At the end of my shift, instead of going out to play, I went home, had a quiet meal, and put my aching bones to bed, where I stayed until noon on Monday.

I have decided that the Pride celebration is lots of fun, but thank goodness, it is over!

37th Gay Pride – West Hollywood

The Pride celebration comes early this year – Friday, June 8th, Saturday, June 9th and Sunday, June 10th to be exact. This year’s agenda is “Love. Equality. Pride”.

37 years after Morris Kight decided, in celebration of New York City’s Stonewall Riots in June of the previous year that “We are going to have a parade”, and set forth to make it happen, the annual Pride celebration has grown into a massive event, with over three hundred thousand people of all persuasions attending the parade alone!

Like any event that becomes so large, the LA Pride celebration has taken many twists and turns in its evolution, becoming, some say, much more commercial in the present times than when it was conceived.

Other cities such as New York and San Francisco do not charge for admission to their festival, (although in fairness, I am told that San Francisco Pride receives large subsidies from the city to make this possible, plus donations at the entrances to their festival, and New York Pride (Heritage of Pride) has a large group of corporate sponsors, as well as many grass roots funding events.

However, even with only a handful of paid staff, 1,500 volunteers, huge corporate sponsorship, the City of West Hollywood waiving fees and paying for the extra sheriffs officers required during the event, charging parade participants and floats entry fees, levying hefty fees to anyone wanting a booth in the festival, selling advertising in the program, selling a gamut of pride merchandise from bears to t-shirts to cups, plus charging the public $15.00 in advance/$20.00 at the gate, LA Pride still complains on their website that they are not making any money, and in fact are in a “financial squeeze”. I sure would like to see their books…

Well, whatever the financial woes of one of our largest “non-profit” Gay corporations, the Pride weekend continues to be a time of joy, celebration, and wonder. All those beautiful men and women don’t hurt the eyes, either!

I should mention that Santa Monica Blvd. will be closed for the parade on Sunday, June 10, from Fairfax to Doheney, from 6AM to 5PM. Several other streets will be closed as well. Check the city’s General Information website for a list of closures and times. Permit parking will be lifted from 7:00AM Saturday, June 9, to 7:00AM Monday, June 11, 2007. Many parking lots will be available throughout the city to handle the extra cars. For their addresses and prices, here is a link to the City of West Hollywood’s CSW Event Parking Information. If you are cheap like me and hate to pay for parking, even though the city has lifted the parking restrictions for the weekend, finding a space will be a gruesome hassle. Leave your house early, car pool, park far away and take taxis, sleep over at a friend’s house, rent a hotel, or a combination of these things. Good luck!

I will be holding down the fort (or maybe holding court) at the Keller Williams Realty booth at the Pride Festival on Saturday, June 9th from 4PM – 7PM. Please stop and say Hi!

PS: Unfortunately, according to the Heritage of Pride website (www.nycpride.org), it looks like New York will not have a festival this year, due to the city refusing to grant the group permits. Bummer.