Music, cheering and rainbow-clad residents filled the streets of downtown Long Beach for the 39th annual Pride Parade on Sunday morning. Various organizations and prominent members of the City showed up and showed out in rainbow attire to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community after a two-year hiatus.
The parade began at 10:30 a.m. at the intersection of Ocean Boulevard and Lindero Avenue and went down to Shoreline Drive as onlookers waved rainbow flags and held up signs supporting Pride, Planned Parenthood and the right to safe, legal abortions.
“Pride is so important. If we don’t stand up and actually appreciate the rights that we earned and that people before us have fought for, we can lose them,” said Jaredd Reese, a member of Service Employees International Union, which advocates for the fair and equal treatment of healthcare workers. “Especially the way this country is going.”
Reese said he has attended Long Beach Pride before, but that this year had an undeniable energy to it, whether it’s from post-pandemic excitement or the state of the country.
Pride Parade was the cherry atop Long Beach’s three-day Pride Festival weekend, which included live music performances from Iggy Azalea, Natalia Jiménez and others, a drag queen makeup booth, a silent disco, an S&M (sex and mischeif) playground for adults, a roller rink, a Transcendence Dome pop-up museum about the transgender community, artist walls from local artists, a family fun zone and the chance to see houses battle each other in between musical acts.
A pride-themed RV made to resemble a ’60s Volkswagen bus drives down Ocean Avenue on July 10, 2022. (Samantha Diaz | Signal Tribune) 
Executive Suits, a gay, lesbian and transgender night club, participates in the Long Beach Pride Parade on July 10, 2022. (Samantha Diaz | Signal Tribune) 
The Service Employees International Union participates in the Long Beach Pride Parade on July 10, 2022. (Samantha Diaz | Signal Tribune) 
A double-decker bus decorated by the CARE Program at Dignity Health makes its way through the Long Beach Pride Parade on Sunday, July 10, 2022. The program was founded in 1986 as a nonprofit to serve HIV patients with comprehensive treatment, prevention education and support services. (Samantha Diaz | Signal Tribune) 
Two Pride flags and an American flag wave in the wind along 3rd Street on July 10, 2022. (Samantha Diaz | Signal Tribune)
Mayor Robert Garcia biked down Ocean Avenue donning a pink “Keep Abortion Legal” T-shirt, while various politicians and community members wore matching attire.
Some attendees like Jessica Coleman, who moved to Long Beach from Minnesota during the pandemic, experienced her first pride in the city. She’s been supporting the LGBTQ+ community through Pride events since she was 16 years old, she said.
“It was fantastic, baby!,” Coleman laughed. “We celebrated and loved and embraced one another. [This year] I felt more empowered because we embraced each other.”
Once the parade was over, residents flocked to the surrounding streets, dancing, laughing and meeting other members of the community.
