West Hollywood’s in-person Bi Pride March and Festival have both been cancelled this year in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The City will instead observe Bi Visibility Week from Thursday, September 16, 2021, through Thursday, September 23, 2021, with two virtual community conversations. The discussions via the ZOOM platform, will focus on the past, present, and future of the bisexual community and on micro-aggressions endured by bi people.
It would have been the forth annual Bi Pride March and Festival celebration in West Hollywood this year. The city hosted the first ever Bi Pride event in the nation on September 22, 2018, the day before Bi Day of Visibility, which is designated annually on September 23.
Attendance grew and so did the production for the Bi Pride March and Festival in 2019.
The event would have been bigger in 2020, but of course it was cancelled due to COVID, and it has been cancelled again in 2021.
The City of West Hollywood has found other ways to celebrate Bi Visibility Week:
On Thursday, September 16, 2021, the City’s lanterns over Santa Monica Boulevard between Hancock Avenue and N. Robertson Boulevard will be lit in pink, purple, and blue, which are the colors of the Bisexual Pride flag, in homage to the community. West Hollywood City Hall will also be lit with the same colors.
For what could be the first time in the city’s history, Bisexual Pride flags will be flown on the City’s medians where flags are currently displayed. Additionally, Bisexual Pride flags will be displayed on the rooftop of City Hall and at Plummer Park.
On Tuesday, September 21, 2021 at 7 p.m., the City and members of its Lesbian & Gay Advisory Board will host the first of two virtual Zoom panel discussions focused on the Bisexual community, Past, Present, and Future of the Bisexual Community. To register for the Zoom webinar, please visit: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_YuBIxVsgQyiQhw0uIgQCew.
The second panel, A Community Discussion on Microaggressions Towards the Bi Community will take place virtually via the Zoom platform at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, September 22, 2021. To register for the Zoom webinar, please visit: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zSYaODxJTeu7jBVOU1VPKA.
Both sessions will be livestreamed on the City’s WeHoTV YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/wehotv. For additional details, visit www.weho.org/lgbtq.
Since incorporation in 1984, the City of West Hollywood has become one of the most influential cities in the nation for its outspoken advocacy on LGBTQ issues. No other city of its size has had a greater impact on the national public policy discourse on fairness and inclusiveness for LGBTQ people. More than 40 percent of residents in West Hollywood identify as LGBTQ and three of the five members of the West Hollywood City Council are openly gay or lesbian. The City has advocated for more than three decades for measures to support LGBTQ individuals and has been in the vanguard on efforts to gain and protect equality for all people on a state, national, and international level.
For additional information about the Bi Visibility Week contact Hernán Molina at (323) 848-6364 or at [email protected] or via www.weho.org/lgbtq.
