Dancers, drag queens, allies and community members came out to celebrate 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 Pride banners and flags from the back of pickup trucks and other vehicle floats.
Following the parade, festivities continued with food, vendors and musical performances late into the night. Nonprofit organizations such as The Wall Las Memorias and Bienestar Human Services set up booths at the event to provide resources for queer youth and their parents.
Phillip Hurt, a 29-year-old drag performer, hosted a stage at the festival and said they were excited 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 gay [folk], straight allies, old, young, families coming together,” Hurt said.
Hurt participated in the event alongside their friends from the House of Hurt, a collective that hosts backyard drag shows in Boyle Heights. “All my girls are here with me and we’re celebrating our identities, our queerness, and our brown-ness, most importantly,” Hurt said.
The event, originally known as Boyle Heights Gay Pride Parade and Festival, was co-founded in 2021 by Councilmember Kevin de Leon’s office and another community organizer. The following year, Tonie Juarez, a business owner and event organizer in the neighborhood, took the lead role in the event’s management.
Shmuel Gonzales, president of the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council, said events like Orgullo were needed in a neighborhood where they had not been in previous decades.
“Ten years ago, the previous CD14 [Council District] administration said that it wasn’t possible to do this here because it was too conservative of a community,” Gonzales said. “Here we are now, not just queer people but their families too as allies. As you can see, this is a family affair.”
Tea Aguilar, a Boyle Heights resident who’s attended the festival since its inception, said as a bisexual woman the event is important not just for her but for the community.
“This kind of event does really make a difference, especially in young people’s lives,” Aguilar said.
Ronni Hernandez, 20, made the trek solo from the San Fernando Valley to Boyle Heights. While he had been to other Pride events this month, he said he came to Orgullo to be around other queer Latinos and for the DJs that were performing. “It’s great to be out here with my people,” Hernandez said.
Way to go !!!! This is so much needed in our Latinx community