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Pride Parade to celebrate 30th year by honoring its founders, 9-year-old community activist and first openly gay state senator of color Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach will have LGBTQers and their allies strut and float along its concrete path this Sunday to celebrate the 30 years that the Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride (LBLGP) Parade has existed. That first parade in 1984 had some 5,000 revelers that harnessed the pride they held in their community– even under rain clouds. Today, that same annual celebration gathers more than 80,000 people in the united belief that diversity is to celebrated, equality is to be shared with everyone and that love holds no boundaries within the human spirit. This year’s parade will take place on Sunday, May 19 with the three original founders of LBLGP as the parade’s 2013 Grand Marshals: Marilyn Barlow, Bob Crow, and Judith Doyle. “We still face our battles,” said Crow, who still works for LBLGP. “But we have come a long way. Back then, we had enormous opposition, from city officials to neighbors, but we never gave up, and we never aborted the mission that we still have today– to let love be a part of every single person’s life.” Five other individuals will be recognized and hold special places within the parade route. The Whitey Littlefield Community Bridge-Building Award will be given to local ally Herlinda Chico for her advocacy of LGBT legislation through the Human Rights Campaign and Long Beach Democratic Club– something she attributes to her first visit to the LBLGP parade when she 18. Ever since she witnessed protestors holding signs which she said spewed nothing short of “hate speech,” she has seen the annual celebration as a way to engage her heterosexual friends with the gay community on a level that is simultaneously amusing and mind-opening. A special recognition honor will be given to 9-year-old Jonas Corona, founder and “Chief of Change” of the nonprofit Love in the Mirror that he created when he was 6. Focusing on low-income and homeless families and individuals, Jonas has helped lift the lives of those less fortunate by giving them the essentials that many of us take for granted: socks, shoes, sustenance, and shelter. The Female and Male Community Grand Marshals will be Sarah Rice and Jewels of Long Beach, respectively. Rice is not shy of the camera, as seen during her stint on MTV’s The Real World Brooklyn. For those within the LGBT community, Jewels is a staple– and not just within the nightlife scene, but within their community as a whole. The first openly gay person of color to ever be elected to the California State Senate, Sen. Ricardo Lara will be granted the moniker of the Morris Knight Political Grand Marshal. One of his boldest moves was the successful passage of a California Legislative Joint Resolution calling for a national LGBTQ Bill of Rights. The LBLGP Parade will take place along Ocean Boulevard between Redondo and Alamitos avenues on Sunday, May 19 at 10am. Street closures and detours will be in effect.
Source: LBLGP, Inc.
MAY 17, 2013
PRIDE WEEKEND 2013
City of LB to dedicate new Harvey Milk Park
The City of Long Beach will host a dedication and opening ceremony on Tuesday, May 21 at 11am for Harvey Milk Promenade Park, the first park in America to be named after the slain civil-rights and LGBT leader. It will also be the first park in the city of Long Beach to be named after an openly gay person. Mayor Bob Foster, members of the Harvey Milk Foundation and dozens of leaders and members of the LGBT community will celebrate the park opening one day before what would have been Harvey Milk’s 83rd birthday. The new park site is located at 3rd Street and The Promenade. The historic park will include sitting areas, a memorial to Milk, including a replica of his famous soapbox, and dedicated space to learn about him and his legacy to civil rights.
The park will also include Equality Plaza, an area where local LGBT community members will be honored. The nine members of the local LGBT community who will be inducted and honored at the dedication are: Bob Crow, co-founder and current co-president of Long Beach Pride, Inc.; Ray Lowen, founding member of The Center, activist and artist; Patty Moore, former chair and assistant director of The Center and longtime activist; Michael Noll, the first openly gay Signal Hill Councilmember and a member of The Center’s Board; Frank Rubio, former president of Long Beach Pride, Inc.; and Ellen Ward, an openly gay Signal Hill councilmember for 12 years and former executive director of the Long Beach AIDS Walk. Those who will be posthumously honored are: Pastor
Michael Cole, founder of Christ’s Chapel Long Beach and of the AIDS Food Store; Ellen “Mary” Martinez, a 25-year member of Long Beach Pride, Inc. and a board member at The Center; and Jean Harris, former executive director of the California Alliance for Pride and Equality. “I am so proud that we are honoring the incredible work of civilrights leader Harvey Milk,” said Vice Mayor Robert Garcia, who represents the 1st district, where the park is located. “This park will not only celebrate Harvey’s historic contributions to equality but honor the great work of our local LGBT community. I hope you can join me on this special day for not only Harvey’s legacy, but for Long Beach.” MORE INFORMATION (562) 570-6919
With initial goal to ‘break shackles of oppression,’ Long Beach Pride Fest now draws 80,000
With its beginnings in 1983, the Long Beach Gay and Lesbian Pride Festival now attracts more than 80,000 revelers a year. The mission in that first year, in the words of Pride co-founder Bob Crow, was simple– “To break the shackles of the oppression of homophobia in the community and the general population.” And despite uphill battles, which included a disapproving City Council, a deficiency of funds, and a lack of widespread support, they pushed on. Ultimately all ended well, with Crow, Marilyn Barlow, Judith Doyle, JC Cree, and Fern Williamson– the original creators of the festival– witnessing what would become one of the largest events in Long Beach, thanks to none other than a straight ally. Then-owner of the bar Executive Suite, Fred Kovell, heard of the City’s “stringent fees, harsh deposit requirements, lack of political support,” and he opened his wallet so the event could take place, with Long Beach Pride born on June of 1984 under rainclouds,
according to LBLGP, Inc. It is in this spirit that Long Beach Gay and Lesbian Pride (LBLGP), the organization that oversees the official launch of Pride Weekend throughout Long Beach on May 18 and 19, opted to keep the theme to this year’s celebration simple, to the point, and in honor of that history– “30 Years Proud!” The centerpieces of Pride will be the festival, which spans both days, and the parade, which occurs on Sunday morning along Ocean Boulevard. “We embrace change,” said LBLGP co-president Kimberly Maddox, “but realize that we must also remember the past in order to fight for equal rights and be role models for our future leaders.” MORE INFORMATION longbeachpride.com
Source: LBLGP, Inc.