June 2024
Summer kicks off with Pride Month! This month-long event is held in June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York City and to celebrate the history and achievements of the LGBTQ+ community. At the same time, Pride Month is an opportunity to remember and reflect on the struggles that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people continue to face even today.
Like New York and San Francisco, Los Angeles is one of the major wellsprings of the modern-day LGBTQ+ movement. The first-ever recorded incident of protest against police actions against the community actually took place in downtown Los Angeles in May 1959, as well as one of the first demonstrations against police raids of bars after a raid on a Silverlake bar on New Year’s Eve, 1966. Los Angeles is also the site of the first officially permitted LGTBQ Pride Parade, which took place on Hollywood Boulevard on June 28, 1970.
A little-known fact about Pride Month is that the use of the word pride began here in Los Angeles, where a group called Personal Rights in Defense and Education (PRIDE) was founded in 1966 to advocate for gay rights. The name was chosen deliberately to counteract the shame and stigma often associated with being gay. Instead of feeling marginalized, the community was encouraged to embrace their identity with dignity and self-respect. This laid the groundwork for the widespread use of Pride in subsequent LGBTQ+ events, symbolizing strength, resilience, and community solidarity.
Today, Los Angeles is home to a vibrant and active LGBTQ+ community. For 2024, Pride Month focuses on “Power in Pride,” a theme highlighting the importance of coming together to uplift the community. In keeping with this theme, this year also marks the first time both the City and County of Los Angeles passed motions to fly the Pride flag at all facilities. To signal greater inclusivity and support, both have approved the use of the Progress Pride flag, a redesign of the iconic rainbow flag that highlights marginalized people of color, trans people, and those living with HIV/AIDS. This show of unity comes at a time when other communities — including some in Southern California — have banned Pride flags.
In celebrating Pride Month, we demonstrate our commitment to equity, express support for LGBTQ+ parents who are raising young children and encourage a positive environment that helps young ones learn about the values of equality, love and respect for all people.
First 5 LA is committed to working with our community partners to ensure Los Angeles supports every child and their family across race, ethnicity, class, geography, physical and cognitive differences, sexual and gender identity, home language and the diversity of family structures. We are proud to celebrate both Pride Month and all Los Angeles families throughout and beyond the month of June.
To help your family join in on the celebration, we’ve curated a list of family-friendly activities and events happening around L.A. County this June. Happy Pride!
- Lakewood, Rainbow Parenting & Family Program Kickoff, 6/8/2024, 10am to 11am
- Culver City, Rainbow Parenting & Family Program Kickoff, 6/8/2024, 11am to 12pm
- West Hollywood, Rainbow Parenting & Family Program Kickoff, 6/12/2024, 11:15am – 11:45am
- Los Angeles, LGBTQ+ Pride Night at Dodger Stadium, 6/14/2024, 7pm to 10pm
- Lancaster, Rainbow Parenting & Family Program Kickoff, 6/15/2024, 11am – 12pm
- Long Beach, Pride Night at the Aquarium, 06/21/2024, 6:30pm – 9pm
- Santa Monica, Pride at the Promenade, 06/22/2024, 2pm – 8pm
