• Equality
  • Community
    • Health
    • Youth
    • Seniors
  • Voices
    • From the CEO
    • Take Five
    • Why I Give
  • About the Center
  • Galleries
  • Calendar
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Trending
  • 2nd Annual Sabor de Mi Centro Block Party Boogies in Boyle Heights
  • Senior Prom Celebrates 25th Anniversary
  • “Solidarity Forever”: Montana State Rep. Zooey Zephyr at Trans Town Hall
  • “We Are Immense, and We Are Abundant”: Trans Pride LA Organizer Gina Bigham Looks Back on a Decade-Plus of Highlights and the Biggest Trans Pride Yet
  • Trans Actors, Athletes, and Activists Celebrate Community and Solidarity at First-Ever Trans Town Hall
  • “My Crown Is Paid For”: 12 Center Portraits of Juneteenth
  • House of Avalon, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Join Center Staff and Supporters for LA Pride: “F*ck the Margins. We’re the Center.”
  • This Year’s AIDS/LifeCycle Participants on Why They Ride
Twitter Facebook Instagram YouTube
LGBT News Now
Learn about career opportunities at the Center
  • Equality
  • Community
    • Health
    • Youth
    • Seniors
  • Voices
    • From the CEO
    • Take Five
    • Why I Give
  • About the Center
  • Galleries
  • Calendar
LGBT News Now
You are at:Home»Community»Pride Picnic Returns as One of Pride Month’s Most Joyous and Inclusive Events

Pride Picnic Returns as One of Pride Month’s Most Joyous and Inclusive Events

0
By on July 11, 2022 Community

By Dan Allen

Some 900 happy guests filled Hollywood Forever on the evening of Sunday, June 26 for the Center’s second annual Pride Picnic, which has quickly become one of the Center’s hallmark Pride Month events.

“It was definitely super positive vibes all around,” says Tui Lyon, the Center’s Director of Special Events. “Everywhere I looked, folks were smiling and enjoying the sunshine and the activations.”

Lyon came up with the idea for a Pride Picnic last year as the pandemic and its lockdowns were still at their peaks, and many in the LGBTQ+ were feeling especially disconnected and alone. “I started it in response to the isolation—especially of the queer community—over the pandemic,” she explains. “I really felt like we just needed to have an opportunity to be together for Pride Month. We’d been so isolated from each other, so I was really just wanting to create an easy, comfortable, accessible space for people to be in community.”

The first Pride Picnic in 2021 was so successful that it has already become an annual Pride celebration for the Center, with proceeds benefiting the Center’s many programs and services.

“Obviously we’re queer every day of the year at the Center, but I still think it’s really important to make sure that you honor Pride Month, and hold an intentional space in that month to celebrate everything that we move through,” says Lyon. “I also think it’s really important for the Center to have a signature Pride Month event. And I think any opportunity to be in community in comfortable, easy surroundings is really important for wellness and bringing joy, and all those good things.”

Some of L.A.’s best food trucks were on hand at Pride Picnic serving delicious fare alongside specialty cocktails from Tito’s Handmade Vodka, and attendees were also invited to bring their own meals and libations. The outdoor feast on Hollywood Forever’s Fairbanks Lawn was accompanied by DJ Nico Craig, drag performances by Amber Crane and Lauren Banall, vogue performances from Chauncey Dominique, along with a crafting tent and lawn games for the kids.

“One of my favorite things is seeing all the little kids chasing around the drag queens with dollars in their hands, trying to keep up with them and tipping them,” says Lyon. “And I think that’s really a very important visual right now, especially with the narrative in the media about drag being harmful for kids.”

Plenty of other vibrant visuals also graced Pride Picnic, much to the delight of social media creators. “We had a huge 20-foot-wide rainbow archway that was wrapped in the colors of the Progress Pride flag, and it had big gold lettering at the very top that said, ‘Cheers Queers,’” says Lyon. “Then we had Pride flag-colored streamers all coming down that folks could run through and take videos.” Organizers also provided a free photo booth for attendees to capture themselves at the joyous event.

One of Pride Picnic’s biggest successes, Lyon says, is its accessible-to-all feel. “I would say it’s mostly young folks, maybe 25 to 35,” she explains. “But one of the things that definitely makes me the most happy is just seeing the huge variety of different people there. We had some folks that were more elderly and were from our older community of queers, right down to kids of queer couples, and everyone in between.

Lyon says she believes Pride Picnic fills a much-needed Pride niche as a unique intentional space that’s equally for LGBTQ+ families, couples, single folks, and people of all ages. “I think that it’s rare that you find a community space that feels comfortable for all those different types of folks,” she says.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)

Related Posts

2nd Annual Sabor de Mi Centro Block Party Boogies in Boyle Heights

“Solidarity Forever”: Montana State Rep. Zooey Zephyr at Trans Town Hall

“We Are Immense, and We Are Abundant”: Trans Pride LA Organizer Gina Bigham Looks Back on a Decade-Plus of Highlights and the Biggest Trans Pride Yet

Comments are closed.

Upcoming Events

Oct 14
7:30 am - 6:00 pm

Models of Pride 2023

View Calendar
About Us

LGBT News Now

LGBT News Now is a publication of the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019, the Center is the largest LGBT organization in the world, dedicated to building a world where LGBT thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society. Learn more at lalgbtcenter.org.

Follow Us on Instagram

lalgbtcenter

The Los Angeles LGBT Center is building a world where LGBT people thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society.

Los Angeles LGBT Center
🌈Great news! #California Gov. Gavin Newsom sign 🌈Great news! #California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law 9 bills this weekend that will help ensure the safety and dignity of the #LGBTQ+ community through measures addressing inclusive school climates, gender-affirming business licensing, and public accommodations. This is a moment to take action, click the link in bio to urge Gov. Newsom to sign AB1645 🗣️
Swipe for more info➡️
“Queer people are told to minimize everything. W “Queer people are told to minimize everything. We’re told to be the friend or the supporting character. But drag makes us think, what if I’m the main character?” asked #TrixieMattel in her speech at last year’s #ModelsofPride, the world’s largest free conference for #LGBTQ+ youth. “I want you guys to know that you are all the main character.”

The “RuPaul’s Drag Race” champ accepted the event’s Model of Pride award, celebrating her epic career spanning entertainment, music, cosmetics—and even commercial renovation, with the hotel makeover series “Trixie Motel” for Discovery—at a time when drag was becoming a growing target for the far-right. 

This year, the drag bans have evolved into an anti-LGBTQ assault on California schools, but Models of Pride is back on October 14th with keynote speakers like #DylanMulvaney and #HayleyKiyoko to create the safe, empowering space our students need right now. You can register at the #linkinbio, or head to modelsofpride.org for more info.
Closing out #BiVisibilityWeek with a banger. (Did Closing out #BiVisibilityWeek with a banger. (Did YOU know the B in Cardi B was for #Bisexual?) Remember you are valid, you owe nobody an explanation, and you’re loved. 🩷💜💙
Happy #BiVisibilityDay! Today we’re giving love Happy #BiVisibilityDay! Today we’re giving love to and celebrating the B in LGBTQ. Bi Visibility Day was created to recognize and celebrate the Bi+ community including the need to reduce stigma of the identity. Bisexuality is beautiful and bi folks deserve love, support and acceptance. How are you celebrating Bi Visibility Day? Drop your 🩷💜💙’s in the comments 

🎥 @kimhoyos
🚨#Breaking: The United States is facing a short 🚨#Breaking: The United States is facing a shortage of injectable penicillin, which is the usual medication used for treating #syphilis. Fortunately, #DoxyPEP has been proven to effectively lower the risk of sexually transmitted infections, such as syphilis, by as much as 87%. For more information, swipe to view our FAQs on DoxyPEP or visit the link in our bio.
We are excited to announce recording artist #Hayle We are excited to announce recording artist #HayleyKiyoko (@hayleykiyoko), AKA #LesbianJesus, as this year’s double headliner and honoree at our #ModelsofPride youth summit! She joins keynote speaker and Model of Pride Award recipient #DylanMulvaney and social media star @RubasWorld, who will serve as the event’s host on October 14.

At a time when LGBTQ+ education is under attack, Models of Pride lifts love, acceptance, and queer joy for LGBTQ+ youth and allies. For more info and registration, visit modelsofpride.org. 

#ModelsofPride #LGBTQYouth  #LoveAndAcceptance
Join us for #Queerceañera on Friday, Sept. 29th! Join us for #Queerceañera on Friday, Sept. 29th! 

Hosted by RuPaul's #DragRace Season 15 alum, @EsTitties, Queerce is a vivid cultural summit and community cotillion rooted in unbridled celebration. This year’s honorees RuPaul’s #DragRaceMéxico host @allaboutvalentina and actress/recording artist @MissBenny sitting down together in a candid keynote conversation. 

But wait, there’s more! The post-program reception features tropical cocktails and live performances by #LA’s own Latin dance phenomenon @Queerchata. RSVP now at our #linkinbio #LatinxHeritageMonth
We are thrilled to announce superstar and host of We are thrilled to announce superstar and host of #DragRaceMexico #Valentina as an honoree and keynote speaker at the Center’s first-ever #Queerceañera! Join us in celebrating the vibrancy of LA's LGBTQ+ Latinx community on Friday, Sept. 29 in Hollywood.

There’s more! The post program reception features tropical cocktails and live performances curated by LA’s own Latin dance phenomenon @Queerchata. RSVP now at our #linkinbio #LatinxHeritageMonth
“You don’t necessarily have to be from a ranch “You don’t necessarily have to be from a ranch to be a cowboy.” Every spring in Zacatecas, Mexico, men from across North America don their finest cowboy attire for a private gathering of gay vaqueros. The weekend-long convention is a celebration of Mexican culture where attendees are free to embrace their authentic selves. “[Mexican culture] is ours, too,” one attendee told the Los Angeles Times.

Founded nearly 20 years ago by bar owner Mariano Escobar, the event features live music, dancing, and a contest for “rostro vaquero”—the official face of the convention and a nod to Mexican festivals where women are crowned “princesses” or “queens.” This year, the title went to Eros Herrera, a police officer who recently opened a homeless shelter and soup kitchen serving the #LGBTQ+ community in San Luis Potosi.

“When I’m on the street, I’m very discreet,” Daniel Renteria, an agave farmer who traveled an hour and a half to attend, told the Times. “Having to hide yourself is hard. Events like this one unite us.” Read more at the #linkinbio.

Happy #LatinxHeritageMonth—stay tuned for more coverage on this page over the next few weeks.

📷 Gary Coronado via @latimes
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Stay Connected
Subscribe
Copyright © 2022 Los Angeles LGBT Center
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy
  • Contact Us

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.