LONG BEACH — Everyone loves a parade, especially a Gay Pride parade.
Thousands of onlookers lined Ocean Boulevard Sunday, waving their Gay Pride flags and cheering people who marched along the Long Beach Gay Pride Parade route.
It was a party in the streets with colorful floats, fabulous drag queens, a live band, and DJs spinning dance music.
Many of the apartments, homes, and condominiums that dot Ocean Boulevard also were having a gay old time — Some people hosted Pride parties in their front yards or inside their residences, which were decorated with rainbow-colored Gay Pride flags and banners.
Parties aside, the parade has a serious side. Gay Pride parades are about giving visibility to the entire LGBTQ community and reminding people that our fight for equality is far from over. Pride Parades started as a revolt against the oppression power structures that refused to acknowledge that we exist and refused to give us equal protection under the law.
In 2018, the fight for justice continues.
Here are some scenes from the Pride Parade with participants saying it loud and saying it proud.
