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Movements Jun 05, 2023
| Photo courtesy of the city of West Hollywood
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Thousands of people filled the streets of West Hollywood Sunday for the annual WeHo Pride Parade on the final day of Pride weekend, with an ongoing street festival and an evening concert by Carly Rae Jepsen also on tap.
A presentation of honors for Pride icons and allies was also scheduled. The honorees were model/activist Laith Ashley, who will receive the Breakthrough Icon Award; actress Niecy Nash-Betts and wife Jessica Betts, who will receive the Trailblazer Icon honor; and actress Melissa McCarthy, who was named WeHo Pride’s 2023 Ally Icon. “RuPaul’s Drag Race” was celebrated as this year’s Drag Icon, with show host/judge Michelle Visage expected to accept the honor on behalf of the program.
“Our WeHo Pride Parade Icons embody queer joy and fierce allyship by creating spaces where our community can be celebrated, whether that’s on the red carpet or directly through their art and advocacy,” West Hollywood Mayor Sepi Shyne said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to celebrate the impact our Icons have in creating a more evolved and accepting world.”
The WeHo Pride Street Fair ran from noon to 10 p.m. Sunday at Santa Monica and San Vicente boulevards, featuring an array of LGBTQ+ community groups and allied organizations.
WeHo Pride weekend officially began Friday with a “Friday Night @OUTLOUD” concert at West Hollywood Park featuring Idina Menzel, Jessie Ware, Shangela and Tinashe. Grace Jones headlined Saturday night’s concert and Carly Rae Jepsen will headline Sunday night.
Saturday’s event included the Women’s Freedom Festival, with performances from “emerging LGBTQ and BIPOC women and nonbinary musicians, comedians, poets and activists.” The festival was followed at 6 p.m. by the annual Dyke March.
Sunday’s parade along Santa Monica Boulevard began at Crescent Heights Boulevard and was set to move west to Robertson Boulevard.
Streets throughout the festival area were closed, and attendees were urged to review parking and access information online at www.wehopride.com. The city provided free shuttle service during the weekend to transport people to WeHo Pride events. Information is available at go.wehopride.com/3qfnasc.
San Vicente Boulevard was closed until 10 a.m. Monday from Melrose Avenue to Santa Monica Boulevard.
Parking facilities in the area of West Hollywood Park — the five-story parking structure, the Library Garage, Aquatic and Recreation Center Garage and the Plummer Park South and Robertson lots — remained closed until Monday.
Other streets closed for the event were:
— Eastbound Santa Monica Boulevard from North La Cienega Boulevard to North Doheny Drive through 7 a.m. Monday;
— Robertson Boulevard from Santa Monica Boulevard to Melrose Avenue through 7 a.m. Monday;
— Westbound Santa Monica Boulevard from North La Cienega Boulevard to North Doheny Drive through 7 a.m. Monday; and
— San Vicente Boulevard from Santa Monica Boulevard to Cynthia Street through 10 a.m. Monday.
Santa Monica Boulevard was closed from Fairfax Avenue to Doheny Drive — including side streets one block north and one block south of Santa Monica — from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday to accommodate the parade.
Tens of thousands of people showed up Saturday for the annual WeHo Pride festival, billed as one of the largest celebrations of LGBTQ+ pride in the world, but two attendees wound up behind bars.
Hunter Lee Darling was identified as the suspect in a cell phone robbery April 19 at the West Hollywood library. An arrest warrant was issued for Darling on May 31, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Information Bureau.
Deputies spotted Darling at a Saturday Pride event, arrested him and booked him for suspicion of robbery, vandalism and battery, sheriff’s officials said. A friend of Darling, Abby Nicole Thomas, was arrested for allegedly interfering and obstructing an arrest after attempting to keep deputies from taking Darling into custody, authorities said.
