By, Ruel Nolledo | Freelance Writer
June 2, 2026
The idea of family is greater than the sum of its parts — especially for a young child. It’s more than just a father, a mother and their offspring.
For a child, family is a feeling. Family feels, whether real or desired, like being wrapped in a blanket full of love and joy and laughter. Family feels like warmth and sunshine on a rainy day. Family feels like belonging.
This June, First 5 LA joins Los Angeles County in celebrating Pride Month. The monthlong observance is a time to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and recognize the long journey toward equality. It’s also an opportunity for us to recognize the many LGBTQ+ parents, caregivers, and extended family members throughout LA who are raising the next generation of Angelenos.
Families come in all shapes and sizes. A 2023 study by the Pew Research Center found that children are growing up today in single-parent families, multigenerational households, blended families and same-sex parent households. In fact, an estimated 5 million children are being raised by an LGBTQ+ parent, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA.
Here in L.A. County, more than 12% of the estimated 665,000 LGBTQ+ adults are parents. Like their peers, they understand the importance of working hard every day to ensure their children are not only healthy, safe and thriving, but also feel loved, cared for and supported. That understanding is due in part to the negative experiences many LGBTQ+ parents have faced with their own families when coming out, and to the subsequent yearning to create chosen or found families of their own — social groups built on trust, support, safety and belonging. Research has found that those values — ones shared by all parents who want the best for their children — have an indelible effect on families, promoting closer parent-child relationships and enhancing the sense of stability, safety and belonging experienced by children.
This Pride Month, we are proud to celebrate LGBTQ+ families and all parents and their children in LA County. To help you and your family celebrate, we’ve compiled a few family-friendly activities and events:
Family-friendly Pride 2026 events around LA County
- Pride Night at the Aquarium of the Pacific (Long Beach): An all-ages evening featuring drag queen story time, mascot meet-and-greets, and performances by Mariachi Arcoiris, the world’s first LGBTQ+ mariachi.
- Kids Culture Crafts (North Hollywood): Young ‘uns receive a free Kids Culture Crafting kit to make rainbow suncatchers in honor of Pride Month.
- Pride at the Park (LA County Parks and Recreation): Free family events at parks across the county on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays throughout June. Music, food, resource fairs, and youth activities.
- Beverly Hills Pride Night at the Wallis Annenberg Center: Free with RSVP, all ages welcome. Live music and performances.
