For the second year in a row, LA Pride is gonna be virtual.
Things kick off June 10 with a concert live streamed on Tik Tok, headlined by Charlie XCX, but there won't be a parade. That parade normally draws hundreds of thousands of people to West Hollywood, but organizers don't think it's safe with the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
Noah Gonzalez is vice president of the Board for Christopher Street West, the nonprofit that puts on LA Pride. He says this year's event will focus on uplifting the less fortunate in the LGBTQ community through a new volunteering effort: Pride makes a Difference.
"We'll be focusing on a handful of pillars that we know affect the community. Those will be housing insecurity, food insecurity, mental health, and abuse," he says.
Pride Makes A Difference runs the entire month of June.
Christopher Street West received criticism after the murder of George Floyd last summer, when they announced a march in conjunction with Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, but Black Lives Matter said it never endorsed the event.
As a result, Board President Sharon Franklin-Brown says this year's programming comes from the will to change:
"That was a direct reflection of having intentional conversations with the community, within the organization itself, on how we could be better, how we could provide a better support for the community."
Long Beach Pride is also going virtual again this year. It's set for May 16th, streaming on YouTube.
