Boyle heights gay pride
Dancers, drag queens, allies and collective members came out to rejoice the LGBTQ+ experience on Sunday at the 4th annual Orgullo Pride Festival in Boyle Heights.
The fest kicked off with a parade procession that started at Mariachi Plaza and made its way down 1st Street to Chicago Street. Some participants walked the route clad in rainbow colors, while others waved Identity festival banners and flags from the back of pickup trucks and other vehicle floats.
Following the march, festivities continued with food, vendors and musical performances late into the night. Nonprofit organizations such as The Wall Las Memorias and Bienestar Human Services put up booths at the event to provide resources for gender non-conforming youth and their parents.
Phillip Wound, a year-old drag performer, hosted a stage at the festival and said they were ecstatic to bring together different kinds of people.
&#;I think this event is important for the Eastside because it brings in diversity but also it combines the various communities [that live here]. It’s a mixture of queer [folk], straight allies, old, new, famili
To celebrate Gay Celebration month, Boyle Heights Beat is sharing stories of persona, pride, courage and survival as told by three juvenile members of the LGBTQ+ community and their families.
These recordings are in Spanish, but you can read their transcripts in English or switch to the original language. Here are the participants:
The Medina Family
Alex Medina will be a senior this fall at Bravo High School in Boyle Heights. Two years ago, the male gay teendecided to come out to his parents, Candelaria and Mario Medina, who immediately accepted him. To support their son, his parents unified the PFLAG Spanish-language groups and soon found themselves becoming activists. They now speak at rallies and conferences, advising Latino parents to support their Diverse children. Read and hear their story:
Alex Medina: Fortunate to have a loving family
The Ruiz Vazquez Family
Charlie Ruiz Vazquez, who self defines as a gender-fluid pansexual, counts her mother Mary Ruiz as her biggest ally. Both are health promotoras for Clínica Romero at Ramona Gardens and pay special atte
Los Angeles, CA – On June 16, in the heart of Boyle Heights, a neighborhood known for its Chicano culture and activism, hundreds gathered for Orgullo Fest. The yearly festival brings together alternative communities and allows participants to celebrate both their Chicano and LGBTQ identities in an important cultural and social celebration.
Orgullo Fest was born out of a grassroots effort by local activists and leaders who recognized the require for an inclusive territory. Juarez, an events organizer from the neighborhood, managed this year’s celebration.
Boyle Heights, with its strong history of Chicano activism digital dating back to the Chicano Movement of the s and s, provides a fitting backdrop for this unique festival.
The festival is a lively mix of cultural events, including a parade, live music, move performances, art exhibitions, mariachi bands, folklorico dancers, and contemporary artists. This blending of cultural and sexual identities creates a more inclusive environment, encouraging solidarity and mutual respect. This historical context enriches the festival, providing att
How do queer communities of color stake out a territory beyond ghettos and enclaves and beyond demarcated moments such as Identity festival Days and ethnic celebrations? These questions haunt the struggles, rituals, and practices of African American, Latino, and Asian American queers as they engage with the travails of urban life today.
&#;Martin F. Manalansan, “Race, Violence, and Neoliberal Spatial Politics in the Global City”
Rainbow flags filled the barrio landscape of Boyle Heights, a historically low-income working class Latinx immigrant neighborhood just east of downtown Los Angeles. Street vendors, nourishment trucks, drag queens, and residents of all ages came together that sunny Sunday afternoon in celebration of Pride Month. I arrived at Orgullo Fest with my younger sister, 15, and my three younger cousins, ages 14, 17, and The Covid pandemic remained a lingering threat but the vaccines, which had begun to roll out months prior, offered some comfort to congregate once again. I admittedly stepped into Orgullo Fest feeling a bit nervous. Was my younger sister going to observe dildos or o