I was fortunate enough to be in Los Angeles last month for LA Pride. My bestie from Florida flew in to join me, and we had a wonderful time staying in Hollywood and touring the city. Despite having lived in San Diego for several years, I hadn’t had a chance to see some of the more famous LA sites, like Beverly Hills or the Santa Monica Pier or the Griffith Observatory, so we happily played tourist for a day.
On Sunday we participated in the huge Resist March that started in Hollywood and wended its way for three miles to end in West Hollywood. Later we found out there were thirty thousand people in attendance, but all we knew at the time was that it was an enormous crowd!
We marched with families, couples, the young and old…the vibe was amazing, so positive and uplifting. The signs we spotted along the way were fantastic. Some were poignant, some angry, and some hilarious. Here are a couple of my favorites:
After we ended up in West Hollywood, we listened to a few speakers, including RuPaul, Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff and Maxine Waters. We had a drink at the world-famous Abbey, the gay bar recently featured on the E reality show “What Happens at the Abbey.” One of the show’s cast members is Andrew Christian model Cory Zwierzynski, who just happens to be the cover model for my book Signs of Life! (Cory wasn’t there for Pride, unfortunately. He was in Key West for a bartending competition.)
After our drink, we rushed to the next event I was in town for, my reading of an excerpt from the third book in my Resilient Love series, Unquiet, at The Ripped Bodice! I was really nervous. I’ve attended GRL as an author, but I hadn’t participated in any spotlights like a reading or Q&A before, so this was my first time. It’s so hard reading out of your own book! The other authors in attendance were amazing, so friendly and so talented. I’ve met Tara Lain before, but Caraway Carter, Louisa Bacio and Laina Villanueva were new to me, and we became fast friends. If you ever get a chance to visit The Ripped Bodice, you definitely should. It’s a wonderful store, the owners so warm and welcoming. I had a marvelous time.
I hope everyone had as wonderful a Pride month as I did. If you attended Pride in your city, I’d love to hear about it! Also, I’d love to give away print copies of my three-book Resilient Love series (Everything Changes, Signs of Life and Unquiet) to one US commenter in honor of Pride. International friends, I’ll offer a set of the three e-books!
Thanks so much, Dani and Love Bytes, for hosting me today.
It sounds as though you had a marvelous time at Pride and had a successful book reading too! I’ve been living in small towns for a number of years, so they do not have Pride celebrations, sadly. I do buy more LGBT books and cheer on Pride electronically and am there in spirits as well, claiming one of the initials as my own.
I so wish there had been a Pride celebration where I live. I am adoring all the photos on this article and hope next year to go to New York to share in the love of LGBT. Much love all!
What a wonderful experience! It sounds like you had so much fun being not only a tourist, but as an author and a concerned citizen. I wasn’t able to attend the closest Pride event this year due to work. Hopefully I can go next year.
I just missed Pride in my town this year, but I did see San Francisco’s once…more sedate than I expected, but the camaraderie was wonderful!
Unfortunately no huge pride celebration, where I live (maybe in some pubs – but I don’t really go out that much). But my city isn’t that big anyway. On the other hand, my country finally paved the way for same-sex marriage. Can’t wait til it’s finalized. Same-sex marriage will make a friend of mine very happy!
No big Pride celebration in the city where I live but in our capital it is the event of the year.
Thank you for sharing your celebration. In my place, there was a cute little celebration, but it is a small town so… there were concerts, some performances, no parade but plenty of nice people sharing a good time!
Congrats on having such a great experience! I hope to have the chance to meet you at GRL.
I hoped to hear from other people who were able to attend a celebration in person. I too have to join in via mind, spirit and electronically. I plead that none of the strides that have been made here in the US are reversed in any way. Since when have all the ideals we as a nation have fought, and stood, for so many years, become under attack once again? Keep celebrating, continue supporting each other, and work to spread love and healing. I still hope for fewer guns and less hatred and ignorance across our country and the world.
Thanks for the great post. I did no go too one but my daughter and her partner did.
Sadly no Pride celebrations close by this year, hopefully there will be next year, so thank you for sharing your experiences with us.