ABOUT WEHO PRIDE

Pride starts here. For decades, West Hollywood has been home to one of the largest annual Pride celebrations in the world, drawing hundreds of thousands of revelers each June. In 2022, the City of West Hollywood kicked-off its inaugural WeHo Pride, which included various programming from the City and its partners.

WeHo Pride 2023 will kick things off on Harvey Milk Day, May 22, with the start of a 40-day WeHo Pride Arts Festival. Then, we’ll lead June Pride month celebrations with WeHo Pride Weekend from Friday, June 2, 2023 through Sunday, June 4, 2023 including a free weekend Street Fair. And don’t forget about our partners’ events such as the music festival OUTLOUD @ WeHo Pride, the annual Dyke March and Women’s Freedom Festival (details to be announced soon), and Sunday’s WeHo Pride Parade.

Entertainment venues in West Hollywood’s Rainbow District along historic Route 66 will produce a number of special Pride events and there will be community group programming, too! Come get your kicks at #WeHoPride.

Frequently Asked Questions • Interactive Pride Map • Street and Facility Closures • Contact Us

HISTORY

Since its incorporation in 1984, the City of West Hollywood has become one of the most influential cities in the nation for its outspoken advocacy on LGBTQ issues. No other city of its size has had a greater impact on the national public policy discourse on fairness and inclusiveness for LGBTQ people.

Home to the “Rainbow District” along Santa Monica Boulevard, which features a concentration of historic LGBTQ clubs, restaurants, and retail shops, West Hollywood consistently tops lists of “most LGBTQ friendly cities” in the nation. More than 40 percent of residents in West Hollywood identify as LGBTQ and three of the five members of the West Hollywood City Council are openly gay.

The City of West Hollywood has advocated for nearly four decades for measures that support LGBTQ individuals, and the City is in the vanguard on efforts to gain and protect equality for all people on a state, national, and international level.

Pride is deeply rooted part of West Hollywood’s history and culture. In fact, Pride events have taken place in West Hollywood since 1979, five years before the City of West Hollywood was incorporated as a municipality in 1984. Historically, Pride in West Hollywood was produced by the nonprofit organization Christopher Street West (CSW), which formed in 1970 to organize a parade in commemoration of the 1969 Stonewall riots.

Originally called “Gay Pride” in the 1970s, Pride became an annual celebration in Hollywood during most of the 1970s before moving to West Hollywood in 1979. In the 1980s, the event was renamed “Christopher Street West,” in honor of the New York City street where the Stonewall uprising took place. It was heavily impacted by the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic, and the parade became a powerful tool for raising awareness and funds for the fight against the disease.

Pride evolved into “Gay and Lesbian Pride” and then came to be known as “LGBT Pride” in 2001 before becoming “LA Pride” for many years. The City of West Hollywood annually partnered with CSW to support event permits, public safety, public works, communications, and monetary grants for the production of the Pride events, such as the Parade and Festival, and complimented this by producing its own arts and culture events during Pride month each June.

In 2022, the City of West Hollywood inaugurated WeHo Pride with programming that represents a diverse array of LGBTQ community groups as part of visibility, expression, and celebration, including continuing to support partners’ Pride events. West Hollywood is a community of choice for LGBTQ people from throughout the region, the state, the nation, and the globe and WeHo Pride embraces a source of deep connection for its unique LGBTQ history and culture.