The WeHo Pride Parade returned to the City of West Hollywood on Sunday, June 4, 2023, attracting tens of thousands to Santa Monica Boulevard from Crescent Heights Boulevard to Robertson Boulevard. The second annual event displayed a mixture of drag queens, Speedo-clad men, and pretty much everyone within the LGBTQI+ umbrella and their allies.
Attendees enjoyed marchers, flagers, bands, celebrity guests and a slew of politicians riding on convertibles to show their support for pride in West Hollywood.
WeHo Pride Parade 2023 – Photo by Mike Pingel for WEHO TIMES
WeHo Pride Parade 2023 – Photo by Mike Pingel for WEHO TIMESThis year, the City of West Hollywood and WeHo Pride producer JJLA honored the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise, Laith Ashley, Niecy Nash-Betts & Jessica Betts, and Melissa McCarthy as Icons of this Year’s WeHo Pride Parade. WeHo Pride Parade Icons are West Hollywood’s version of a Grand Marshal honoring trailblazers and allies for their work in bringing the LGBTQ community and social justice issues to the forefront, as well as expanding queer representation in mainstream pop culture.
WeHo Pride Parade 2023 – Photo by Mike Pingel for WEHO TIMES
WeHo Pride Parade 2023 – Photo by Mike Pingel for WEHO TIMES
Other highlights included the Los Angeles Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who modestly marched in front of a banner, the Los Angeles Rams, and lots of representation for local businesses and non-profit organizations like the TransLatina Coalition.
This year, we saw Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor Lindsey Horvath get her own float (she also had a booth in the street fair). She was later joined by West Hollywood Mayor Pro Tem John Erickson and council member Chelsea Byers after they both completed the parade in the official WeHo Pride City float, which was moved closer to the beginning of the parade this year.
The parade rode past a giant Ferris Wheel and the WeHo Pride Street Fair, which was moved from Robertson Blvd to Santa Monica Blvd, this year. The Street Fair offered #Sizzle – a Carnival of Attraction, which is an alcohol-free space where everyone is welcome, plenty of carnival games with lots of free prize giveaways and the Red Bull DJ booth kept the energy going throughout the day.
The overall assessment for this year’s WeHo Pride Parade which was produced by JJLA, is that it was way better than last year, leaving everyone looking forward to next year.
I ran into an old coworker who works for one of the top Financial institutions in the world. They normally sponsor and have employees march in the Weho pride parade. Showing corporate support and visibility. She said Weho was asking $20,000 for corporate sponsorship this year (allowing them to march) whereas L.A. pride parade was only asking $900. Which parade do you think won out? I find that so discouraging as in years past there were so many Firms/ companies sponsoring and walking in the Weho parade. I hardly noticed any corporate/ business presence this year.
wonderful photos of council!