2007 GAY PRIDE LOS ANGELES // PART ONE
This sunday was the 37th annual LA pride parade. The parade, which celebrates the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities, is more like a commercial parade than a community celebration ! But I am not going to bad mouth on the event ... I only wish it was a little different and maybe more people would be proud to take part in this event !
In Paris for example, the "parade" has nothing to do with celebrating the gay community. It attracts a lot of young people who come to dance behind some commercial trucks and really don't give a damn about the gay community, they just follow the truck with the best music ...
But let's go back to the fun part of this past sunday in West Hollywood, for Alek and I it was the opportunity to meet a lot of OhLaLa readers :-) Thank you guys for all the nice things you have said to us ... I am kind of shy when I am not behind my mac you know ;-) On the up right Alexsander who has more photos from the Gay Pride HERE.
Reichen, super sexy as always ... The rest of the photos HERE More photos coming this week.
+ Happy Pride Los Angeles
+ Gay Pride Los Angeles 2006
+ Weekend Pride in Los Angeles
+ Gay Pride Los Angeles 2005
+ Gay Pride Paris
Not sure what you mean by a "commercial parade." Do you mean the business-sponsored floats (a lot of them in Paris and DC pride parades, both gay-friendly corporations like airlines and the gay businesses, bars and non-profits)? I was so impressed by that in Paris 2 years ago and saw same thing in DC this past weekend. Nice to see these very slick entries as well as the less formal entries that obviously had no corporate money, just passionate participation. Of course, the hot guys always add to a parade, and the inevitable handful of extreme non-conformists (which I am glad to see are no longer the focus of the 6 o-clock news). Gay Pride day in almost any city is exactly that - a day to be gay and proud, have a good time and advance the cause. The month of June makes me so happy to be me! Thanks for sharing LA-WeHo, which was my first Pride Parade 25 years ago!
Posted by: David M. | Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 08:48 PM
The WeHo pride _parade_ is a big bore. No spontaneity, everyone homogenized and perfectly quaffed and waxed, and brought to you "buy" every alcohol company doing business in the U.S. It's really turned into a gawk festival for straight people and their kids and an opportunity for the local TV stations to take pictures of the drag queens.
You should mention to everyone that this is the West Hollywood Pride Festival AND NOT the Los Angeles Pride festival. Los Angeles doesn't have a pride festival, although Long Beach does. Los Angeles desperately needs a pride festival or two.(Silverlake used to have an exceptional festival called Sunset Junction) I would love to go to a San Fernando Pride and a Downtown L.A. Pride - - places that really need to see the gay community being more than nuns in drag and dykes on bikes on TV.
West Hollywood as a city is not the gay Camelot they would have you believe... and it's certainly not representative of the dynamic, diverse, and vibrant gay community in Southern California.
Posted by: BeeDee | Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 08:48 PM
It's not by thing, but I support the underlying message of Gay Pride.
Posted by: Christopher | Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 10:03 PM
Hey Alek great job with the pictures! they look great! It was so nice meeting you guys!! You rock! :P
Posted by: ALEXSANDER | Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 12:12 AM
We no longer go to the WeHo advertising parade. There is nothing to be proud of in the parade. We will stick with Long Beach and Pasadena Pride. Besides, we have more gays an lesbians in the Pasadena area than WeHo does. We are part of the community in all aspects. That is why we stay here, it is something to be proud of and to be a part of. Leave the waxed tweakers to their booze fest, we will enjoy our pride celebration with real pride.
Posted by: Gary | Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 02:48 AM
Nice pictures. I wish pride events come to india soon.
Posted by: indianbearcub | Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 03:08 AM
who's that hot guy at the left bottom corner under the big 'WaMu' pic. looks familiar...
Posted by: steve | Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 06:40 AM
He looks like a former Bachelor, the former football player.
Posted by: indicatoto101 | Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 10:51 AM
cool pictures, I've been doing a mini pride tour of cali, have to say this years Weho Pride was more fun than some of those I've attended in the past. Long Beach Pride is really fun, as well as being I feel more racially diverse. I also went to SF Pride and if you two have never been you should check it out it puts all other US Prides to shame, it's huge. It had been almost 5 years since I last went and it was probably the most fun I've ever had at a pride event.
Posted by: blakfoxx | Monday, July 02, 2007 at 07:11 AM
You got a picture of Mike from this season's Big Brother.
http://www.ohlalaparis.com/ohlalaparis/images/2007/06/12/2007gaypridela10.jpg
He hasn't come out on the show yet and he was also on the show "Gay, Straight or Taken" but was supposedly the straight guy.
Posted by: Marc | Monday, July 09, 2007 at 01:52 PM