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GUYS & GUYS
WEST HOLLYWOOD GAY PRIDE 203
PAGE 24


tall handsome man headshot side anonymousThis page features lots of great pics I snapped at this year's Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade 203. The event was the largest and most diverse yet.  Tens of thousands of people poured into my small neighborhood for the weekend, especially Sunday when over 400,000 showed up.  Weho's (West Hollywood's) Pride Parade was the first in the nation and probably the largest.  That means that a hot dog which cost $3.00 on Thursday costs $7.00 during Gay Pride. Hooray!

This is a far cry from the original pride parade held in the early 970's in Hollywood. At that time both the police and the government fought even the existence of the parade. Finally a court order was needed to allow the event to happen.

Today the parade is one of the largest events in Los Angeles and brings in thousands of tourists and hundreds of thousands of dollars in spending on hotel rooms, meals and, of course, booze booze booze!

gay pride parade west hollywood floatThe bars in Weho can sell an entire month's worth of liquor in only three days.  The Monday after the event the alleyway behind the bars is piled high with folded cardboard liquor boxes and giant dumpsters are stuffed full of glass bottles.  The amount of money the bars make is extraordinary because they sell so much alcohol but they also jack the prices sky high.  A dixie cup of premium beverage costs $6.

The second the parade is over the City of LA Dept. of Transportation kicks into gear.  Immedately street sweepers and police cars take over the street, one of the busiest in LA.  Santa Monica Boulevard can't be stopped for too long or the traffic in LA, already horrible, would get worse.  So less than two hours after 400,000 drop tons of trash, confetti, bottles, and drag queen feathers it is all cleaned up and the street reopens as if nothing had happened.

This is the same time that the best sight in the entire event happens.  When the parade ends the crowd flows into the street and follows it to the end at the Pride Festival.  Santa Monica Boulevard slopes downhill here so when you look uphill you see 400,000 making their way down a normally traffic choked boulevard. It's an amazing sight!


GAY PRIDE PARADE LOS ANGELES 203
Highlights of the 43rd West Hollywood (Weho) Gay Pride Parade in 2013. Hosted by John McQuilkin whoever that is. He claims to be a "realtor to the stars." That means he's a double phony - real estate and Hollywood!

WARNING:  This video contains short people.

METRIC / ENGLISH CONVERTER


If you see a pic you think doesn't belong here then email me.